Funding and
governance
Funding
The Hydrant team receives referrals from the Inquiry on behalf of policing. Hydrant co-ordinates the response of police forces to non-recent child abuse. Work in 2022/23 will focus on responding to the recommendations made in the final report published by the Inquiry in October 2022. Following the conclusion of the Inquiry in October 2023, this funding stream has now ended.
There are three different sources of funding that have been combined to cover the resourcing of the Hydrant Programme for the financial year 2022/23.
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Home Office
In 2022/23, £1.4 billion will be provided for national policing programmes and priorities. This delivers on the national priorities of taking down more County Lines, reducing violent crime, child sexual abuse and exploitation, fraud and modern slavery.
Over the next two years the Hydrant Programme will receive the following grants to support our work:
2023/24 £1,850,000
2024/25 £2,035,000 -
National Police Chiefs’ Council
From a national policing perspective, the Hydrant Programme works to the strategic direction of the NPCC Child Protection and Abuse Investigation (CPAI) portfolio, led by DCC Ian Critchley.
Governance
The Hydrant Programme is part of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) which brings UK police leaders together to set direction in policing and drive progress for the public. The programme supports the work of the NPCC Child Protection and Abuse Investigation (CPAI) portfolio currently led by Deputy Chief Constable Ian Critchley of Merseyside Police.
Hydrant’s Director is the strategic lead for the programme, the budget holder and is accountable for delivering the programme in line with the Home Office grant agreement. Management of the grant is undertaken through the normal financial governance arrangements of Norfolk Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office for that area with all spending against the provisions of the grant being made in accordance with financial regulations. (Norfolk Constabulary are the host force for the programme.)
The programme Director reports to a Governance Board, which has the following membership:
- NPCC CPAI Chief Officer lead
- Home Office Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Unit Deputy Director
- Home Office Advisor
- NPCC CPAI Staff Officer
- Chief Finance Officer Norfolk Constabulary
- HR Business Partner Norfolk Constabulary
- Head of Communications NPCC Vulnerability Communications Team
- Hydrant Programme Director
This Board provides the audit and governance function for all HR and finance activity relative to the programme, provides an assessment of the programme’s achievements against the key deliverables as set out in the Strategic Plan and holds the Director to account for his performance.