Responding to a Children’s Commissioner’s report that looks at
how effectively existing infrastructure within local authorities
is being used to deliver a public health approach to preventing
gang involvement and youth violence, Cllr Nesil Caliskan, Chair
of the Local Government Association's Safer and Stronger
Communities Board, said:
“A public health approach to serious youth violence is
vital but does not mean one led by council public health teams
alone. It is disappointing that this report wrongly focuses
solely on public health teams, rather than considering the
partnership approach needed to properly tackle the issue.
“We agree that it is important to intervene early to tackle
the root causes of serious violence and address the risk factors
which we know can lead to a young person becoming involved in
violent crime.
“However, this requires multi-agency working across a range
of partners, including health, education, local government, the
police and voluntary sector, so singling out one area of this
co-ordinated effort is not representative of how local
authorities are working.
“If we are to reduce youth violence and make a real impact
on the lives of those involved or at risk, councils and their
partners need to be able to deliver the services young people
need. We have called for the reinstatement of the £1.7 billion
that has been removed from the Early Intervention Grant to
councils since 2010.”
