The Liberal Democrats have set out ambitious plans to tackle
soaring levels of knife crime, by investing £500 million in youth
services and adopting a public health approach to youth violence.
A Liberal Democrat government would create a £500 million
ring-fenced fund for Local Authorities in England to spend on
youth services. This would provide young people with positive,
safe and healthy opportunities to prevent them being drawn into
youth violence and gang-related crime. The party would also make
local youth services a statutory service, protecting them from
future cuts.
The Liberal Democrats would take a public health approach to
tackling youth violence, modelled on the successful approach
taken by Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit. This would involve
identifying risk factors and treating them early on, with youth
workers, police, teachers, health professionals and social
services all working closely together to prevent young people
falling into gangs and violence.
Liberal Democrat Leader said:
“We are in a knife crime epidemic, but successive Governments
have taken the wrong approach to dealing with it.
“For 25 years, Conservative and Labour Governments have been
competing to seem tough on crime, without doing enough to
actually prevent crime.
“Liberal Democrats will build a brighter future for young people
by investing £500 million a year in youth services and taking a
public health approach to youth violence.
“With a Liberal Democrat government, young people will have the
support and opportunities they deserve, our communities will be
stronger and people will feel safer.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Education is fully devolved, so this policy applies to England
only. However, under the Barnett formula extra funding will be
made available to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The
Liberal Democrat manifesto will be fully costed and will clearly
set out revenue sources to account for extra spending, including
this investment in youth services.
The Conservative government has cut spending on youth services by
£300 million (40%) real terms between 2015 and 2018. Research by
the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Knife Crime has found that
the areas with the biggest cuts to youth services have seen some
of the biggest increases in knife crime.
http://www.preventknifecrime.co.uk/news/
Knife crime has risen by 80% and homicides by 26% between 2015
and 2018. Police recorded over 47,500 offences involving knives
or sharp instruments in England and Wales in the year to June
2019.
(ONS statistics 2019)
The Strathclyde Police established Scotland’s Violence Reduction
Unit in 2005. The unit works with health, education and social
work agencies to bring about long-term societal change and
provide those involved with gang crime a positive alternative.
Violent crime in Scotland has halved over the past decade while
in Glasgow, while the number of hospital admissions for stabbings
has fallen by 62%.
https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2018/05/24/tackling-knife-crime-in-scotland-10-years-on/
