Crime schemes gain from £46m funding boost

Victims and offenders schemes across England are set to benefit from a £46 million windfall, the Treasury has announced today.

The funding forms part of the sixth Invest to Save Budget (ISB) initiative which offers support for projects that involve public bodies working together to deliver services that are "innovative, responsive to local needs and more efficient".

The biggest winner in this round's awards was the Crown Prosecution Service which received £27,123,000. Among the other high profile beneficiaries were Devon and Cornwall Constabulary which was recognised for its Targeted Drug release programme which offers access for drug using offenders to pass from the criminal justice system to the treatment system when released from prison.

Since 1999, the ISb has invested millions of pounds in some 400 projects across the UK. The budget for the scheme also considers partnership bids from central government, local authorities and the voluntary sector. It is expected that a total of around £370 million will be spent on ISB projects over the period from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2006.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Boateng said: "The Invest to Save Budget has been a catalyst for change across the public and voluntary sector – sharing lessons learned and best practice across regions and departments and so helping to improve service delivery."

Winning projects must provide six-monthly progress reports and carry out an evaluation of its success once it has been completed. Projects running for longer than a year also have to carry out an interim evaluation exercise.

(gmcg)