Delivery of a Custody Intervention & CARA Programme for Domestic Abuse Perpetrators

This process is to identify a specialist provider to work with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire (PCC) to undertake two areas of work:

1. Custody Intervention - provide specialist Domestic Abuse support within each of the 3 custody suites, 7 days a week, for as reasonable a period as the funding allows. These workers will support front line police officers in decision making (upskilling) around Domestic Abuse perpetrators.
2. CARA Delivery - provide resources to work with the Hampton Trust to deliver Project CARA across Cheshire as an intervention for domestic abuse offenders, both male and female who have received a Conditional Caution (soon to be Diversionary Caution).

The PCC has submitted a grant application to the Home Office to secure funds to deliver this programme in Cheshire. The submission deadline for the application is 17th February 2023. It is expected a decision on the application will be made by 31st March 2023. In the event we are not successful in our grant application for funding, a contract will not be awarded as a result of this procurement process.

Due to the sensitive nature of this work, inherent risks working with perpetrators of domestic abuse and the requirement to have appropriately trained and skilled staff available in short timescales, we expect the successful bidder will have some existing links to the Cheshire and North West area. We would also expect they have extensive experience in this area; in safeguarding requirements and will have a proven track record in delivering successful outcomes.

The proposed budget for this initial programme (3-year term) is £1.45m.

It is expected that the PCC will be able to put a further grant application into the Home Office for a continuation of the funding after the 3 years. Therefore, a further 3 x 12-month extension periods are available in the total term.