Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
reduce the incidence of knife crime involving young people.
The Minister of State, Home Office () (Con)
My Lords, we have made £130.5 million available this year to
tackle serious violence. This includes funding for violence
reduction units, which draw key partners together to address the
root causes of violence, and targeted police action to deter and
disrupt knife crime. We are also investing £20 million in
prevention and early intervention to prevent young people being
drawn into violence in the first place.
(CB)
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. I know
she shares the House’s concern about these young people who have
died on the streets of this country. Last year was the worst year
on record. It is a terrible waste of young lives. Is the Minister
willing to look at a scheme initiated by the police in
Hertfordshire, where they have established a specialist team of
officers to link with the other key services to identify those
young people who are in danger of being drawn into criminality,
so that they can prevent, I hope, terrible things from happening
to them and other young people? This scheme, though in its
infancy, seems to be producing very encouraging results.
(Con)
I was pleased to be able to read about the scheme and to see the
multiagency approach it is taking, trying to intervene before
young people get involved in criminality. I am always pleased to
hear examples and share good practice with other agencies.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have been rebuked
by the statistics watchdog for using misleading figures, claiming
a falling crime rate under their leadership. Who is right: the
Government or the statistics authority? Some communities suffer
much more than others from knife crime. Could we have a
zero-tolerance policy and, in order to tackle the problem, a
breakdown of the figures for the age, sex and race of the
offenders?
(Con)
My Lords, the Home Secretary did state, in her evidence to HASC
on 2 February, that while some aspects of crime are going down,
not all aspects are. The Home Office press release on 27 January
stated that the figure used to show the reduction in crime
excludes fraud and computer misuse. Of course, data is crucial
when we are thinking about interventions in whatever crime it
is.
(Con)
My Lords, can my noble friend tell me how many knife crimes are
drug related?
(Con)
As my noble friend will know, the picture of knife crime is not a
simple one. Many factors drive the use of knives, both as regards
victims and perpetrators, but there is no doubt that county lines
drug-running does increase their usage.
(CB)
My Lords, I ask the Minister whether the Government are helping
youth clubs.
(Con)
I am sure that the noble and learned Baroness knows about some of
the youth interventions we are putting in place, including in
youth opportunities. We are investing £200 million in a youth
endowment fund to ensure that those most at risk are given the
opportunity to turn their lives away from violence and lead
positive lives.
(GP)
My lords, two police forces so far, South Yorkshire and Thames
Valley, have decided to stop showing images of knives that they
have found. My colleague at the London Assembly, , has asked the Mayor of
London whether he will encourage the Met to stop sharing those
images, because it probably encourages knife crime rather than
diminishes it. Is that something the Home Office might
support?
(Con)
If police forces decide to do such things as stop showing
pictures of knives, that is entirely a matter for them. Of
course, we support whatever works—sometimes showing pictures of
knives increases the fear factor in getting involved in things
such as knife crime—but it is down to local police forces.
(Lab)
We share the concerns of the noble Lord, , about knife crime and the
devastating effects it can have on young people in particular.
The Minister mentioned violence reduction units, which bring
together local partners to tackle violent crime by understanding
its underlying causes, and by bringing additional funding.
Violence reduction units have been introduced in 18 police force
areas. When are they going to be extended to the remaining 25
police areas to support local multiagency work to tackle youth
crime?
(Con)
I agree with the noble Lord that VRUs are a very valuable tool in
early intervention. We have provided £35.5 million this year to
fund them. They are commissioning a range of youth interventions,
and I will keep the House updated as they become more
widespread.
of River Glaven (CB)
My Lords, will the Minister say something about interventions in
schools to discourage young people from becoming involved in
gangs, which seem to be a very rich source of knife crime on our
streets?
(Con)
The noble Lord is absolutely right in what he says, and we know
that engaging in education is one of the strongest protective
factors against violence. That is why we have invested over £45
million in both mainstream and alternative provision schools in
serious violence hotspots, to support young people at risk of
involvement in serious violence to re-engage in education. Since
November last year, in 22 areas across England alternative
provision specialist task forces have been working directly with
young people.
(Con)
My Lords, many troubled young people find themselves excluded
from education and drawn into violent crime through financial
incentives. What are the Government doing to promote work and
apprenticeships to young people excluded from school?
(Con)
Apprenticeships are a very good way of diverting people away from
violence and into meaningful activity, and on to a working life.
I have just answered the previous question about what we are
doing in terms of education. Moving on from that, our £3.3
million Creating Opportunities Forum is providing meaningful
employment-related opportunities to and raising the aspirations
of young people at risk of serious violence over the next two
years. More widely, we have invested £237 million to provide
extra traineeship places between September 2020 and July this
year, with further investment through to the end of the 2024-25
academic year. Traineeships are a short and flexible combination
of learning and work experience, and they give young people who
lack them the knowledge and skills to get an apprenticeship or a
job.
(Lab)
My Lords, does the Minister recall the meetings which I have had
with her about the use of data and focusing on data to identify
the locations in neighbourhoods which need extra resources in
trying to prevent crime? In particular, does she recall the
conversation she had with Professor Shepherd from the University
of Cardiff, and the work he has done there, which has been spread
to other parts of the country? Could she update the House on how
that is being used?
(Con)
I very much remember that meeting and the professor’s very
forensic detailing of exactly where crime hotspots were
occurring. Of course, local forces will determine the risks in
their local areas and the correct interventions to be put in
place. Although I support what the professor is doing, it is, as
I said to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, up to local forces to
decide.
(CB)
Will the Minister explain what is being done for people who have
not returned to school, who are not excluded from school, but,
following Covid, have decided to self-exclude, who I believe are
very severely at risk?
(Con)
That should be a worry for us all, not only in terms of the risk
of getting involved in knife crime, but also the risk to their
education getting far behind—perhaps safeguarding risks too. The
noble Baroness raises a multifactorial and worrying trend that
the Home Office has been concerned about right through the
pandemic.
