Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

Weeks of Action: A Background

Q: Why are Weeks of Action taking place?

A: “Weeks of Action” have recently developed a higher profile because of the concerted effort by the Home Office to support partnerships in delivering the current PSA1 target– to reduce crime by 15% and by more in high crime areas (HCAs). 44 areas have been identified as being of highest priority to delivery due to the potential impact of their performance on PSA1. During initial discussions about how partnerships might be supported to make the greatest impact, the significant potential of effective Weeks of Action was identified. They can have a positive impact in any partnership area, not just high crime or priority areas.

Q: What are Weeks of Action?

A: “Weeks of Action” is a term used to describe specific periods of intensive and highly co-ordinated partnership action, usually focused on discrete high crime and high deprivation areas, such as a ward, neighbourhood or cluster of streets. They bring together a broad range of partners, involve local communities and local media and to reduce crime and disorder and increase reassurance in some of the most marginalised communities.

Weeks of Action are not a silver bullet for reducing crime or building more effective partnerships and must be part of an integrated partnership strategy and Action Plan if they are to achieve maximum impact.

Weeks of Action are not expensive – they use core mainstream services and resources in a more focused way.

Q: Can Weeks of Action be carried out in partnerships who are not part of the Priority 44?

A: Weeks of Action are led and implemented by the CDRP and can be carried out in any area of England and Wales. The Weeks of Action Guidance has been sent to all GOs for onward delivery to partnerships and will shortly be available on the crime reduction website.

At the Home Office led conference in London on 13 April for partnerships outside of the 44, there was a presentation on Weeks of Action and all attendees received copies of the Guidance.

Weeks of Action Guidance and Best Practice

Q: Where can I get guidance on planning and carrying out Weeks of Action?

A: Guidance for Weeks of Action was issued by email to the HORDDs on 22 March. Version 2 of the Guidance was issued on 20 April. The Guidance includes key tips for Weeks of Action and a Weeks of Action Checklist along with further guidance for all areas of planning, disseminating and evaluating Weeks of Action.

Readers are invited to comment on this guidance and contribute their own experience for inclusion in future versions. Versions 1 and 2 of the Guidance largely draws on the experience of Nottingham CDP; it is intended that future versions will draw increasingly on input from partnerships across England and Wales.

If you would like a copy of the guidance or have any feedback or comments please send an email to ali.hewison@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Q: Where can I get a Weeks of Action Checklist?

A: A checklist for carrying out Weeks of Action is included in the Annex of the Priority 44 Weeks of Action Guidance. The most recent version of the Guidance was sent out on 20 April to all the HORDDs, if you require another copy, please email ali.hewison@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Q: I would like to show how one CDRP is performing compared to the other priority areas in relative terms. Where can I find this data?

A: On the iQuanta system you can view up-to-date PSA1 performance information for all CDRPs so it should be easy for you to choose the charts you require for CDRPs in the 44 - this should provide all the relative performance information you need. To access iQuanta you can email your name, organisation and contact details to iQuanta@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk to request a username and password.

If you feel that iQuanta doesn’t provide the information you require, it would be useful for us to know that so we can consider whether any changes or additions are needed.

Further information on Weeks of Action

Q: Where can I find out when Weeks of Action and related events are taking place?

A: The Calendar of Events is sent out on a weekly basis and also forms Worksheet 3 of the Action Plan. The Calendar of Events holds details of where and when Weeks of Action and related events (e.g. Conferences and Seminars) are taking place. Please ensure that the information in your area is included in this. Anything that you would like to see included in the Calendar of Events please email ali.hewison@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Q: Where can I receive more information about Weeks of Action and related events?

 

A: The Priority 44 Weekly Newsletter is sent out on a Weekly basis. Broadly it covers the following topics:

1. News from the Centre

2. Action required by you

3. Key dates

4. New Information and resources

5. Progress Report and deadlines for updates

If there is anything else that you would like to see included in the newsletter or would like to be included on the distribution list, please email ali.hewison@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Q: Where can I get more information on tackling certain crimes?

A: The Crime Reduction website has information and toolkits on how to tackle specific crimes, see: www.crimereduction.gov.uk/

The Priority 44 Weekly Newsletter also provides updates on newly available information and resources available. If you would like to be added to the distribution list please contact ali.hewison@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Partnership Working

Q: How do we engage the judiciary so that their decisions support what we are trying to do in local areas?

A: Various work has been done at the Centre joining up Home Office, Ministry of Justice and others on crucial areas such as sentencing policy and what you are trying to do in your local areas. The Home Office has done work with CIP and PPO with HM Courts sentencers (and their clerks) to increase awareness and bring them into the arrangements for delivering successful outcomes for DIP and PPOs. This includes training, attending their conference and producing material for clerks in co-operation with Justices Clerks Society. Most importantly partners should work with the judiciary like any other partner: sharing knowledge, data and celebrating success.

Q: How can we engage health colleagues more in partnership work?

A: As with any other partners, CDRPs should work with health to make a convincing case to partners about what they will gain by playing a full part in the partnership. It is also important for partners to share learning about 4eh ways in which they have worked and share best practice on how to improve partnership working. The case study and presentation at the 4 June Conference by about the work in Preston with Health and the Police on tackling alcohol and violent crime provides an outline about how working can be improved and gains be made. For more information on this please go to http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/psa1/weeksofaction011.htm

Funding

Q. Why was there a delay between making a decision on SSCF funding?

A: Tough choices had to be faced by the Home Office to enable us to live within our budget allocations for 2007/08 and meet our public protection obligations. Following a root and branch review of Home Office spending plans, final decisions on the overall budget were not made until late March. Decisions were approved by Ministers. The £10 million cut in HO contribution to SSCF has been applied across Partnerships in both England and Wales. This is about a 14% reduction.

There were, however, some areas of detail within budgets where further specific decisions were required of Ministers. These included what reduction might be applied to grants made to local areas in both England and Wales

Within England, these grants form part of the pooled budgets that underpin delivery of LAAs and are paid on our behalf by Communities and Local Government (CLG).

CLG issued indicative allocations to local authorities in December 2006 and the Grant Determinations (which showed total allocations but gave no breakdown by individual funding stream) were issued late April. Therefore, under LAA funding principles, areas will have known what their pooled fund was and been able to allocate resources to achieve LAA outcomes from this information.

April and May coincided with the period of purdah for local government and Welsh Assembly elections, a time when Government Departments are required to take a low profile and maintain political impartiality. Decisions over the level of grant funding for Wales were conveyed in writing to Edwina Hart on 18^th May.

We confirmed final, detailed allocations with Ministers in early June and informed areas through GO / WAG officials as soon as possible. However, we will endeavour to ensure that where there have been delays it will not happen again.

 

Q: Has the delay between making the decision and confirming it with relevant stakeholders had an impact on the Compact with the VCS?

A: The Home Office recognises that it may have inadvertently breached the Compact through the late notification of some funding allocations made to local authorities and their partners for 2007/08. The circumstances relating to this breach are complex; Home Office would like to apologise for the period of uncertainly and is committed to ensuring that any lessons are learnt and there is no repeat in future years.

Where Home Office grants were made direct to Third Sector partners, decisions were conveyed in advance of the new financial year wherever possible

We recognise that is never good practice to announce allocations after the beginning of the financial year as it is likely cause local partners difficulties in planning and could lead to breaching the Compact. Where it was possible, for example in the case of some third sector grants, we notified partners as quickly as possible. However, we will endeavour to ensure that where there have been delays it will not happen again.

Q: Why has no further Basic Command Unit guidance been issued?

A:

• Home office Circular 5/2006 stated no further guidance on the BCU Fund would be issued

• The Ministerial Statement on provisional police funding on 28 November 2006 confirmed that £50m would again be provided to BCUs 2007/08

• 2007/08 allocations from the £50m BCU Fund remain the same as those made in 2006/07. These are set out in Appendix C of the Home Office Circular 5/2006.

• The purposes and uses of the grant, the administrative arrangements and the terms and conditions remain the same as those set out in the Home Office Circular 5/2006

• Decisions over the future of the BCU fund will be made as part of the Home Office’s overall resource allocation process for the Comprehensive Spending Review period (2008/09 to 2010/11)

• In the absence of any certainty of funding for future years, there is no carry over of under spends allowable at the end of 2007/8 and any grant that is unspent by March 2008 will become repayable. Therefore the 5% carry over facility will not apply beyond 2006/07.

• Reporting arrangements remain essentially the same, with a requirement for a financial outturn statement certified by the police force’s chief financial officer, and a brief report (no more than one side of A4) on what has been achieved with the fund in the previous year.

If you have any questions or require any further information please contact Alastair Thomas, Crime & Drugs Resources Unit on 020 7035 0581 or Alastair.thomas@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Last update: Wednesday, July 18, 2007