Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology Note No. 599 on Early interventions to reduce violent crime, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the 46 per cent increase in homicides between 2014 and 2018.

The Serious Violence Strategy published in April last year sets out an analysis of the trends and drivers of rises in serious violence including homicide. The analysis shows that there are a range of factors that have driven these increases and changes in the drugs market are a major factor.

The Government is determined to tackle all form of serious violence. This includes supporting the police by recruiting 20,000 new police officers over the next three years and making it easier for them to use stop and search powers and announcing an additional £20 million to tackle county lines, including expanding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre. We are also investing over £220 million into early intervention projects to steer young people away from crime.