Message from the Police and Crime Commissioner

Dear partners and residents

Launching the Commissioner’s Community Fund

I am pleased to announce the launch of the Commissioner’s Community Fund – a new initiative that will provide support to innovative local schemes which aim to make our communities safer. As I said in my Police and Crime Plan, ‘Everybody’s Business’ I want to help individuals, communities and businesses to get together and generate ideas. This could range from small-scale purchases that will improve communities to capacity building work, or big ideas needing match funding.

I am keen to support projects that show a strong partnership ethos. For example, where a local community proposes a project requiring manual labour to achieve their objectives offenders on Community Payback could be drafted in to support via the local Community Safety Partnership. I will be working with partner organisations to ensure that support is targeted to work that complements, rather than duplicates, existing activity.

I have allocated £250,000 to the Commissioner’s Community Fund for 2013. Bids are welcomed from any partnerships, community groups or organisations whose projects, services or activities contribute towards the priority areas set out in the Police and Crime Plan  for Hertfordshire. These priorities include focusing on the needs of the public, particularly victims of crime, ensuring that offenders make amends and pay back for the cost of crime and developing plans to apply greater business sense.

Bids should be submitted to thefund@herts.pnn.police.uk and will be considered on a quarterly basis, with first allocations being made this summer. Further details on the process are below. Please feel free to contact my office with any queries. In addition to this support, each council area has a Community Safety Partnership, with whom you may also wish to discuss your proposals.