Since September 2012 and the establishment of the Halo Project, the Police Authority and latterly the Police and Crime Commissioner has provided funding.
This supports a service to protect and support victims of honour based violence and forced marriage (HBV/FM).
Due to a number of changes in the commissioning landscape, it was agreed back in November 2015 that a joint commissioning exercise for the provision of support for victims of HBV/FM and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) will be completed together with Durham PCC.
This coincides with the wider victim referral service that has recently been awarded. Due to this decision it was agreed to extend funding with the current provider to ensure consistency of service for 6 months to allow for this exercise to take place (Decision ref 99-2015).
A needs assessment is in the process of being completed for this service provision across both PCC areas which has taken longer than anticipated due to the often complicated and hidden nature of such crimes.
Therefore, it is recommended that the current arrangements be extended for a further six months to enable completion of the needs assessment.
An open service provider event is to be held and procurement exercise to take place.
Decision 58. Halo Project – extension of funding to September 2016 (application, 208kB)