Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of violent crime in the West Midlands; and if he will make a statement.
On 9 April 2018, the Government published the Serious Violence Strategy to set out the action it is taking to address serious violence, and in particular the recent increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide.
We have reviewed the evidence and the strategy sets out the trends and drivers of serious violence. The evidence shows that homicide, knife crime and gun crime have increased since 2014 across virtually all police force areas in England and Wales, including the West Midlands. The increases have been accompanied by a shift towards younger victims and perpetrators. The analysis in the Serious Violence Strategy shows that changes in the drugs market is a major factor in the recent increases.