Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to reduce the level of violent crime.

The Government’s Manifesto set out an ambitious package of reforms to de-liver on the people’s priorities and tackle violent crime and safeguard people’s streets and neighbourhoods.

As announced in the Queen’s Speech this includes the introduction of the Serious Violence Bill, which will put a duty on police, councils and health authorities to prevent and reduce serious violence. We have also announced an additional £25 million of targeted investment to increase our efforts to tackle county lines, including expanding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre.

We have provided the £100 million Serious Violence Fund to provide support to the 18 police force areas most affected by serious violence. Of this, Thames Valley Police has been allocated £1.94 million to pay for a surge in police operational activity, such as increased patrols in greater numbers for longer periods of times, as well as new equipment and technology, improved intelligence and targeting, and an enhanced investigative response.

A further £1.16m from the Fund was invested in developing Thames Valley Police’s Violence Reduction Unit. We continue to prioritise funding for tackling serious violence, which will be backed with £119 million in 2020-21. On 29 December 2019 the Home Secretary announced a further £35 million to continue funding Violence Reduction Units. Thames Valley Police has been allocated another £1.16m for 2020/21 to continue to tackle the root causes of serious violence.

We have invested £220 million in early intervention and prevention initiatives to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the £22 million Early Intervention Youth Fund and £200 million Youth Endowment Fund and have put in place a landmark review into drug misuse.