Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a violence reduction unit in Bournemouth to tackle knife crime.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) can play a key role in the implementation of a whole-system, or public-health, approach to tackling violence. The value of such approaches is recognised in the Government’s 2018 Serious Violence Strategy.
Since 2019, the Government has provided over £160m to support the implementation of VRUs, with a further £55m invested in 23/24. Violence is strongly linked to specific geographies and to ensure maximum impact, this funding is targeted at 20 force areas that collectively experience the highest volumes of violent offences (around 80% of relevant offences). In light of the number of violent offences taking place in the Dorset Force area, Dorset does not currently meet the threshold for VRU funding specifically.
We recognise, however, that a public health approach can still have value in areas with comparatively lower levels of violence, and that is why in 2023, we introduced the Serious Violence Duty, which requires specified authorities across England and Wales to work together to plan to prevent and reduce serious violence in their local areas. Local areas may choose to implement VRU-style partnerships as part of their work to fulfil obligations arising under the Duty. Useful information for those wishing to do so can be found here: Violence Reduction Units 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Government remains committed to providing the resources needed to tackle violent crime. We have provided funding to support implementation of the Duty, which for Dorset, amounts to £292k in 23/24, and we have also recently confirmed Dorset’s police funding settlement of £179.8 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £11.1 million when compared to 2023/24. In addition, in recognition of recent exceptional policing demand arising in Bournemouth, we are pleased to have recently approved, on an exceptional basis, an additional £600k in 23/24 to enable Dorset Police to respond to this pressure.
Feb. 08 2024
Source Page: James Cleverly at the APCC general meetingFound: I’m a big fan of the police and crime commissioner model.
Report Feb. 08 2024
Committee: Secondary Legislation Scrutiny CommitteeFound: special attention of the House: Draft Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and
Mentions:
1: Chris Philp (Con - Croydon South) We are also tackling knife crime, which we discussed extensively yesterday. - Speech Link
2: Chris Philp (Con - Croydon South) I mentioned violence reduction units and hotspot patrolling. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Alistair Carmichael (LD - Orkney and Shetland) a violence reduction unit. - Speech Link
2: Michael Tomlinson (Con - Mid Dorset and North Poole) when it comes to addressing serious violence, knife crime and weapons carrying. - Speech Link
3: Sally-Ann Hart (Con - Hastings and Rye) We have seen a 16% reduction in knife crime for that period. - Speech Link
4: Sarah Owen (Lab - Luton North) Knife crime and violence have no place in our society. - Speech Link
5: Feryal Clark (Lab - Enfield North) That will support our aim of halving serious violence, including knife crime, and youth violence within - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Philip Davies (Con - Shipley) gang-related or group violence, and whether the doctrine should be enshrined in statute. - Speech Link
2: Florence Eshalomi (LAB - Vauxhall) A few weeks ago, I spoke in a debate on knife crime. - Speech Link
3: Jeremy Corbyn (Ind - Islington North) Like her, I represent a constituency where, sadly, we do experience knife crime and death by knife crime - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Lord Polak (Con - Life peer) Advocacy services include such roles as the child independent domestic violence advisers—the CHIDVAs. - Speech Link
2: Baroness Newlove (Con - Life peer) the victims of crime. - Speech Link
3: None They were young men who had been involved in a gang-based lifestyle, often including drugs or knife crime - Speech Link
4: None regulations under subsection (4) only if satisfied that such amendment would not result in a significant—(a) reduction - Speech Link
Jan. 25 2024
Source Page: New law to ban zombie-style knives and machetesFound: New law to ban zombie-style knives and machetes
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to work with relevant authorities to tackle knife (a) possession and (b) crime among youth in (i) England and (ii) Romford constituency.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling knife crime is a priority and the Government is determined to crack down on the scourge of violence devastating our communities.
We recently consulted on new legislative proposals to tackle knife crime and as a result, in the Criminal Justice Bill, we have introduced provisions to provide more powers for police to seize knives held in private that could be used in crimes, increase the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s. In the next few weeks, the Government intends to introduce a new ban on zombie-style machetes and knives.
As a result of the Government’s Police Uplift Programme (PUP) the Metropolitan police service has recruited 3,468 additional uplift officers against a total three-year allocation of 4,557 officers. The Metropolitan Police’s funding will be up to £3,581.1 million for 2024/25, an increase of up to £118.9 million when compared to 2023/24.
Under this Government, it has never been easier for the police to make legitimate use of stop and search powers. Every knife seized through stop and search is a potential life saved. In 2022-23, stop and search removed over 15,000 weapons and firearms from our streets and resulted over 74,000 arrests across England and Wales. In Essex there were over 2,000 resultant arrests following a stop and search and almost 4,600 searches resulted in a stolen or prohibited article being found in 2022-23.
The Home Office has invested over £160m since 2019 into the development of 20 Violence Reduction Units across England and Wales with a further £55m made available for 2023/24. Since 2019, we have provided over £43 million to develop and run the London Violence Reduction Unit, which covers Havering. This includes an investment of £9.5m in 2023/24. Violence Reduction Units deter people, particularly young people, from becoming involved in serious violence by bringing together partners from health, probation, policing, housing and beyond and investing in the best evidence-based interventions.
Through our Grip programme, we are providing additional funding to enable the Metropolitan police to boost patrols in specific streets and neighbourhoods most affected by violence, including Romford High Street. This programme is providing regular, visible patrols to deter violence and provide community reassurance as well as problem-oriented policing.
Problem-oriented policing is based on an analytical approach that seeks to identify and respond to the specific drivers of violence as they affect the particular location, so that working with partners, the police can take effective preventative action to tackle these. Since 2019, we have provided The Met Police with c.£51.8 million for their delivery of the programme and have awarded them a further c.£8.9 million for this (23/24) financial year.
Violence Reduction Units, in combination with GRIP, have delivered a statistically significant reduction in hospital admissions for violent injuries since funding began in 2019 (an estimated 3,220 admissions have been prevented in areas where the programmes operate).
Over 10 years the Home Office is investing £200m in early intervention and prevention initiatives to help children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund.
The YEF have funded the SW!TCH Lives project in Romford, which aimed to promote positive actions and emotions and reduce risky behaviour by providing young people with consistent, positive role models, weekly mentoring and positive peer networks. They have also funded ‘You and Me Counselling’ as part of the COVID-19 Learning Project, which aimed to provide targeted support to young people at risk of being involved in violence; and second, to learn fast about the best ways to reach young people during a period of social distancing.
Jan. 25 2024
Source Page: Youth justice statistics: 2022 to 2023Found: Following on from the recommendations in the Overcoming Barriers to Tru st in Crime Statistics report