A letter to chief executives from the Home Office.
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
www.gov.uk/home-office
7 March 2022
Dear Chief Executives,
We are pleased to confirm the 10-week bid development window for the fourth, £75 million round of the Safer Streets Fund, which will run for 18 months across the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years, opened this week and will run until Friday 13 May. This fourth round will combine and expand upon previous rounds of Safer Streets and the Safety of Women at Night funding, targeting neighbourhood crime and violence against women and girls, as well as including anti-social behaviour as a primary focus for the first time.
Before turning to the detail of the fourth round, we wanted to reflect on what has already been achieved, and importantly to thank you for your continued efforts and engagement. Over two years, since the Fund was established, the total Government investment through the Fund and the Safety of Women at Night Fund totals £75 million.
The first £25 million round of the Safer Streets Fund supported 52 projects across 35 Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) areas to invest in a range of situational crime prevention measures in acquisitive crime hot spots across England and Wales. Whilst Round One has completed, the final independent evaluation report is currently being finalised, and we hope to be able to share fuller findings with you all in the near future. However, interim findings have shown that your interventions are increasing community engagement and confidence in our collective action to tackle crime, and the case studies shared have really brought to life your excellent work and continued efforts.
The second, £20 million round of the Fund, running over the 2021/22 financial year, targets neighbourhood crime. Building on the first round, this round enabled Local Authorities to lead bids as well as PCCs and expanded the scope beyond residential areas to more rural and commercial locations. We are supporting 50 projects, but it was very encouraging to see an increased number of bids being submitted.
The third, £25 million round, running concurrently with the second round, saw us expand beyond acquisitive and neighbourhood crime with an aim of improving the safety of public spaces for all, with a particular focus on helping to combat violence against women and girls and ensuring feelings of safety in the public domain. We were very pleased to see how you rose to the challenge, proposing a good range of not only the more traditional crime prevention measures, such as streetlighting, but also innovative proposals to change attitudes and behaviours, all within a tight timeframe. Building on the first and second rounds of the Fund, this third round was also open to the British Transport Police and we took the opportunity to strengthen consultation requirements, ensuring a greater range of views were considered as part of bid development.
Whilst currently separate to the Safer Streets Fund, but sharing the ambition of helping to tackle violence against women and girls, we have also invested £5 million through the Safety of Women at Night (SWaN) Fund. Running over 2021/22, with a focus on public spaces at night and the night-time economy, 22 projects are being delivered to support initiatives protecting victims, targeting potential perpetrators and addressing offender behaviour.
Whilst delivery of the second and third rounds of the Fund, and the SWaN Fund, is ongoing, we are continuing to work closely with projects ahead of the end of this financial year’s deadline, in addition to liaising with Kantar to drive forward independent evaluation activities.
With a three-year Spending Review, we are in a much more certain position, and, as detailed in the Government’s recently published Levelling Up White Paper, £50 million per year of the Spending Review will be dedicated for continuation and expansion of the Safer Streets Fund. We will move away from the position seen in previous rounds and expand development and delivery beyond a set financial year, instead running two rounds – each lasting 18-months – from 2022/23 to 2024/25. The bid development window for the first of these two rounds – Round Four – opened at the start of this week for PCCs, local authorities, the British Transport Police and certain civil society organisations.
This fourth round will operate in a similar way to previous rounds, with further strengthened engagement and consultation requirement to ensure bids capture first-hand experiences, encourage and promote partnership working and above all engage and empower local communities. Additionally, to ensure those benefitting from Government funding are contributing to tackling crime and taking responsibility for levelling up their local areas, a 50 per cent matched funding will be required from PCCs, the British Transport Police and local authorities. We believe this is still a good deal, with bidders putting in £1 (which can be in kind, for example officer or volunteer time) for every £2 the Government provides.
Full details of eligibility and criteria, the timeline and supporting resources - including crime benchmark information - are provided in the ‘Safer Streets Round Four, Protecting Public Spaces, Prospectus’, which will be published on gov.uk during the week commencing 14 March. Alternatively, you can email the Home Office Safer Streets Team at [email protected] if you would like to be sent a copy.
Interested bidders must register on the Home Office Jaggaer Portal for access to the full suite of competition documents. The Jaggaer portal will be used for all communications regarding the competition.
Thank you again for your continued support and involvement in the Fund. It is a testament to your hard work that the Fund continues to be positively received, especially during recent uncertain times, and interventions you have delivered are playing a key role in ensuring our streets and communities are safe, as well as making a valuable contribution towards our levelling up commitment.
Yours sincerely,
