Knives: Crime

Home Office written question – answered at on 6 August 2018.

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Photo of Lord Bird Lord Bird Crossbench

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the Youth Violence Commission’s Interim Report, published in July, that current approaches to reducing knife crime are ineffective and the focus should be to tackle the root causes of serious violence.

Photo of Baroness Williams of Trafford Baroness Williams of Trafford The Minister of State, Home Department, Minister for Equalities (Department for International Development)

The Government has noted the findings of the Youth Violence Commission’s Interim Report published on 18 July.

On 9 April 2018, the Government published the Serious Violence Strategy to set out the action it is taking to address serious violence, and in particular, the recent increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide.

The strategy represents a step change in the way we think and respond to serious violence. Our approach is not solely focused on law enforcement, very important as that is, but depends also on multi-partnership working and a ‘public health’ approach across a number of sectors such as education, health, social services, housing, youth services, victim services and others.

In particular, the strategy stresses the importance of early intervention to tackle the root causes of serious violence and provide young people with the skills and resilience to lead productive lives free from violence.

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