Oral Answers to Questions

Gill Furniss Excerpts

Wednesday 8th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I commend my hon. Friend, who is a regular and consistent champion on these issues of environment and climate change. We are looking at the result of the review that was undertaken by the independent committee in relation to our targets for the future. We have, as I am sure she would agree, a good record in our decarbonisation and changes to emissions that we have been undertaking over recent years. We will look very carefully at the report and make a formal response to it in due course.

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

Q7. In Sheffield we have seen youth services cut by 64% as a result of the Government’s austerity agenda. At the same time, we are seeing an increase in knife crime. The report by the APPG on knife crime that was released yesterday highlighted this link across the country. When will the Prime Minister recognise that this is for real and that the decimation of youth services is leaving our young people vulnerable to crime? What will she do to restore these vital services that should be there to support them?

[The Prime Minister]

We recognise the concerns about the level of knife crime. That is why I will be chairing the first serious violence taskforce this afternoon, following the summit we held a few weeks ago, bringing all parts of Government together to ensure that we are putting all efforts into dealing with this issue. Diverse elements need to be addressed, and we need to ensure that we turn young people away from violence. That is being done in various ways across the country, and Government are clear about the need for us to work with local authorities and others across the board to deal with this very difficult issue.