PCC encourages organisations to express interest in projects to tackle domestic abuse and protect families

MERSEYSIDE'S Police Commissioner is urging organisations to come forward with expressions of interest for projects that work with perpetrators of domestic abuse to tackle and prevent their behaviour, protecting families which are at risk.

Emily Spurrell is inviting charities and eligible groups to contact her to confirm their interest in submitting bids for projects which work specifically with perpetrators of domestic abuse to change their behaviour, lower the risk of reoffending and reduce the number of victims. Funding is also available for projects which work with perpetrators of stalking.

Between £300,000 and £1m is available for projects which will run for 2 years from 1st April 2023 until 31st March 2025 from the Perpetrators Intervention Fund jointly delivered by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice

The most effective bids will be put forward by the Commissioner for funding. More than £36m is currently available nationally and the Commissioner is keen to work with partners to secure, as much funding, as possible to tackle abusive behaviour across the Region.

Any organisation wishing to bid must be able to provide a minimum of 25% of:- "match funding" to enable their programme to run and set out how their project will work to support the Home Office's Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan.

Merseyside's Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:- "Domestic abuse is not acceptable, and it is not inevitable. Tackling it is 1 of my priorities and that means addressing the root cause of the problem by preventing it from happening in the first place. The right interventions at the right time can stop abuse from occurring, recurring, or escalating. I want to work with our community safety partners and the charitable and third sector to secure as much of this national funding as possible for programmes which can make a difference right here in Merseyside, making sure more families are protected from abusive behaviour. While this funding is very welcome, the Government have made it difficult by imposing very tight timescales for allocating this funding. My team is already in the process of contacting our existing partners to make them aware of this funding opportunity and the process for applications, but there may be other charities and social enterprises who have innovative ideas for how to use this funding. I would encourage any organisation who may have a project in mind to get in touch as soon as possible so we can assess their eligibility and proposal. Working with perpetrators to change their behaviour is essential work, but it must never come at the expense of funding life saving support for survivors, and I will continue to lobby Government to commit to a long term sustainable funding model for our frontline community based support services."

In 2021, Emily secured more than £600,000 from this fund to run 3 projects working with perpetrators in Knowsley, St Helens, Liverpool and Wirral. The funding for all of these projects runs out at the end of March.

For more information about the Fund and to express your interest in applying for this next round of funding please email OPCC.CPR@merseyside.Police.UK by Friday, 13 January 2023, when further details of the process will be sent out to you.
 

Northern recognised for work to address gender imbalance in rail industry

TRAIN operator, Northern, has been recognised by a leading equality organisation for its work to address the gender imbalance in the rail industry. Northern Power Women, a leading equality campaign group, has shortlisted Northern as the:- 'Large Organisation of the Year.' at its upcoming 2023 awards. It is the 2nd year running that Northern has been shortlisted for the award. Announcing the shortlist, they praised Northern for its commitment to developing an inclusive culture in the workplace by demonstrating a forward thinking approach to recruitment, development and retention of talent.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said:- "We're thrilled to have been shortlisted for a Northern Power Women Award. We feel very strongly that equality, diversity and inclusion is not limited to the work of our HR team - it's a journey everyone at Northern needs to take together. As such, we work closely with colleagues from across the business, at all grades, to ensure progress made is visible to all. Northern has around 7,000 employees based across the North of England and despite an increase in the number of female employees by over 30% in recent years, women still only account for 18.72% of our workforce - so there is still much more to be done."

The Northern Power Women Awards take place on:- Monday, 20 March 2022, in Manchester. In the:- 'Large Organisation' category, Northern has been shortlisted alongside:- Fujitsu, Kellogg's, Learning Curve Group, Deloitte, DHL Supply Chain, The Co-Operative Bank, Nugent, IKEA, Siemens, Bank of America and CGI.