What are you doing to address the disproportionate high homicide rates in the black community in London?

Every death on the streets of London is a tragedy. I meet with victims’ families, and my heart goes out to every family and community who have been affected by violence. Working in partnership, we are doing everything we can to stop more lives from being lost. If we are to tackle the problem head-on and protect young lives, both the MPS and I have been clear that we must face up to the disproportionate impacts of the violence we see on our streets. I am greatly concerned about the number of homicides in our city, including the number of young Black men and boys who have lost their lives.

I am acutely aware that during the summer months, as COVID restrictions are eased, we may see an increase in violence. I have brought together partners to take collective action, working together with the police, other statutory services, councils and the community to make more progress. My Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is working with the MPS, the National Probation Service, London’s VRU, boroughs and other criminal justice partners across London to deliver coordinated action to suppress violence, aligned with the MPS’s six-point plan to tackle serious violence. This includes targeted enforcement against violent offenders, supporting people away from crime and offering positive opportunities for young Londoners.

Communities will continue to be central to our approach to reducing violence. Through our VRU, England’s first, I am investing in programmes to put communities at the forefront of our work, giving them tools to drive down violence and make our city safer. The VRU is working, for example, with the Black Training and Enterprise Group to invest in after-school provision for 10 to 18-year-olds through community programmes that support Londoners who are most in need. Last year, I allocated a total of £6.6 million to the My Ends programme, which provided locally-designed interventions in neighbourhoods affected by high and sustained levels of violence. Last week I announced £2.4 million of additional investment for the VRU to support up to 4,000 school-aged children both during the summer and beyond. This is one of our biggest challenges and something we all need to work on together.

Thank you for your answer, Mr Mayor. I just want to be clear. I am not trying to criticise what you have done. What I am asking is, even when you take into account gang activity and poverty, the homicide rate in the Black community is still disproportionately high.

What other factors have you identified? Is there a specific piece of work we can do across London to address this? As I say, we know gang activity has been a big issue and we know that poverty is as well, but there is something additional going on, and I wonder if your information had spotted any of that and if something specifically can be done about that.

I am not excusing criminality. One of the things we have recognised is actually the root causes of some of this violent crime, particularly in the communities you refer to, are lack of opportunity, deprivation and inequality. It is the root causes that we are seeking to address by giving more opportunities. That is one of the reasons why people like me talk about structural inequalities and institutional racial discrimination. We are trying to persuade the Government to understand there are systemic issues in our society and across the country that are to do with the issues that I have talked about. We have to address those issues. We see it reflected in research from what happens in our schools, what happens in our Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), what happens with infant mortality, what happens in relation to mortality, what happens in relation to life chances and relation to universities. Tackling those root issues will make a big difference to the concern that both you and I have about disproportionality when it comes to the victims of violent crime.

All of what you said I accept, and those things happen for people, but we have known this for the last five years. You have set up a number of initiatives. You spoke about all the money you spent, but where is the progress? What is the outcome of this input? You have put in a lot of money. We accept that. Thank you. May it continue. The outcomes have not been as successful as you would like. You can see that just by looking at the stats. They are going in the wrong direction.

What will you change? Is there something specific that can be done to drive that change? Black parents and Black children in London are absolutely terrified. I could tell you 101 different stories. My brother will not let his 17-year-old son out on his own. I have to guard my 11-year-old son. I just want to know if there is something specific we can do to change direction. Again, you have put money in, but I do not see the same outcomes that we hoped that money would generate.

No, but there is a basic misunderstanding from you about the money we have put in being adequate to replace the money lost by Government cuts. It is not. Over the last 11 years, across our city, we have seen a hollowing out of the services that the young Black people you claim to care about used to use. What we are doing from City Hall is doing our best with the finite resources we have. We only have council tax and business rates to try to fill the massive hole left by Government cuts.

Mr Mayor ‑‑

Chair, I am answering the question. I have to be able to answer the question.

Mr Mayor, I would allow you to answer the question, except you did something very disgusting. You sat in that chair and said I claim to care about it. Are you trying to suggest I do not care about my community and I do not care about my own children? Is that what you are after? Let us be clear. You are trying to dodge the bullet by blaming the Government. What have you done? I am asking you. What are you doing? That is what I am asking for. Every time you evoke the Government, it is to make sure we do not look at you. The fact that you have sat there and said I claim to care is ‑‑ I cannot tell you how disgusting that statement is. Chair, I am done. I am done because that is out of order and the Mayor knows it.

Chair, are you going to chair this impartially or what?

I am done, Chair.

In that chair, you are not a Conservative, Andrew. You are the Chair. Try to be impartial.

All right. I am listening to the debate and I am waiting ‑‑

Try to chair it rather than listening.

Thank you for the advice. Are you going to answer that question?

I thought he was done, but I will answer the question, Chair. I am grateful ‑‑

I will tell you the question you should answer. Answer this question, Mr Mayor.

Here we go. Here we go.

Answer the question why you feel that you can sit in that chair and tell me that I claim to care about my own children. That is the question I want answered.

Assembly Member Bailey, you have established the position. Do you have an answer?

That is the question I want answered. You asked for a question; that is a question. There it is. Answer the question. Be quiet, Léonie. Answer the question.

Excuse me, Chair --

Some order, please. Some order, please.

You have the audacity to ask them to be under order when he has behaved this way.

Some order, please.

No, Chair, Assembly Member Bailey has just told Assembly Member Cooper to be quiet. That is unacceptable.

I am afraid it is not. It happens all the time here. Let us be clear. I will ask that question. I want you to tell me why you feel you can ask me to ‑‑

Assembly Member Bailey, please stop talking now. Thank you very much, Assembly Member Bailey. I believe there was a question in there. Do you wish to answer that, Mr Mayor?

I do, Chair. It is a really important issue and I should be given the time to answer the very important issue that has been asked by the Member. The clock has stopped for reasons I find I am not clear about but let me answer the question in the time that I have to answer the question. It is an important issue in relation to investing in young Londoners, particularly those in deprived communities. It is a fact that we have ‑‑

That is not the question I asked, Chair. I asked why you feel you can sit in that chair and say to me I claim to care about my community and my own children. That is the question I asked. Please answer that question. If he does not want to answer the question, Chair, just stop the clock and we can move on.

No, you asked him a question. Let him answer.

That is the question. Let him answer it, then.

Have you answered that question?

No, I have not, Chair, and you know I have not, Chair. You have to try to be impartial. Look, you have been asked to be Chair of the Assembly.

I have and that is why I have asked you, Mr Mayor. Will you finish your answer?

Chair, I will answer the question. I am not going to “finish” my answer. I will answer the question, and the question I was asked was about the really concerning issue of the disproportionate number of Black people who are losing their lives, which I was seeking to answer before the angry Member of the Assembly ‑‑

Yes, I am angry. You are right.

He interrupted my answer and you listened to the hectoring rather than chairing. Let me respond to the question that has been asked.

Thank you.

We are taking action. We have made huge progress in filling some of the huge hole left by the Government. By ourselves, we are not going to be able to fill the massive hole left and so what we are doing from City Hall is the record investment in giving young people constructive things to do. Many of the beneficiaries of this investment are young Black Londoners, whom we care about, which is why we are investing in them.

At the same time as investing in them across London, we are also investing in our policing. Across the country, we have lost more than 21,000 police officers, including many in London. From City Hall we are investing more than £1 billion and we will be recruiting Black officers as well to serve in the MPS, more than we have in the past. Why is that important? It gives Black Londoners confidence in their police service, which means they are more likely to come forward and provide intelligence. Why is that important? It prevents young Black Londoners losing their lives from violent crime.

I am hoping there is cross-party consensus on the need to address this issue. I am hoping there is agreement that this is a serious issue. What I would hope though at the same time, Chair, is lobbying of the Government to give us the resources in terms of both enforcement and prevention, which is what we desperately need.

Thank you. Is that your answer? You had an opportunity to answer.

I am grateful, Chair.