An additional £3m will be allocated to ten targeted areas to keep young people safe, the Home Secretary announced today.
The funding will be focused on the ten Tackling Knives Action Programme police forces, as part of wider action on youth crime.
The ten areas taking part in the action programme are London, Essex, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Merseyside, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire, South Wales and Thames Valley.
Earlier this year, the Home Secretary outlined plans to focus a programme of action on knife crime and announced an initial investment of £2 million.
Key points
Today’s new money will go towards rolling out:
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after-school patrols – a visible police presence on the routes to and from schools
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safer school partnerships (new window) – a dedicated police officer allocated to a school or group of schools to promote safety and work with young people at risk of victimisation, offending, poor behaviour or attendance
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Operation Staysafe – police using safeguarding laws to remove young people at risk from the streets at night and take them to a place of safety
Home Secretary's statement
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said, 'With the clocks going back and the nights drawing in, it is particularly important that young people feel safer walking home from school.
'With more police officers patrolling your streets, we are emphasising our core message that young people do not need to carry a knife for protection – it makes you less safe, not more – and these additional police are there to help protect you.'
Children's Secretary's statement
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls said, 'Schools are one of the places that young people feel the safest and fortunately knife crime inside schools is incredibly rare. This announcement will make sure schools remain the safe haven they have always been, preventing young people from being drawn into knife crime outside the school gate.
'We know that prevention is the best form of action in stopping young people from getting involved in bad behaviour in the first place. By helping the ten priority areas in establishing safer school partnerships, police and schools can work together to educate and inform young people about their responsibilities to be law-abiding citizens.
'The government cannot tackle youth crime alone, but by providing support to communities and by listening to young people themselves, we can all contribute to developing solutions in our effort to deter young people from getting involved in crime.'
Association of Chief Police Officers' statement
Head of the Tackling Knives Action Programme and the Association of Chief Police Officers’ (new window) lead on knife crime, DAC Alf Hitchcock said, 'Young people tell us that the period after school can be when conflicts arise between different groups and an increase in police presence and in other visible signs of authority can help them be and feel safe and secure.
'This additional funding will assist the ten Tackling Knives Action Programme forces in further building on the tough approach towards those who carry knives which ACPO is leading across the police service.'
Notes to editors
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The £100 million for the Youth Crime Action Plan (new window), published in July, is also increasing after-school patrols, safer school partnerships and Operation Staysafe more widely across the country.
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It is a £100 million package of measures tackling youth crime through a comprehensive plan of early prevention, non-negotiable support and tough enforcement.
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The Tackling Knives Action Programme, headed up by the ACPO lead on knife crime, DAC Alf Hitchcock, will run until March 2009. It combines tough enforcement with education, prevention work and information campaigns to keep youngsters on the right track.
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After-school patrols ensure the routes to and from school remain a safe environment for children and members of the public.
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Safer school partnerships were originally launched in 2002 and there are now over 400 across the country. The Youth Crime Action Plan set the expectation that these partnerships should be further expanded, to improve relationships between young people and the police, promote school safety and reduce the risks of crime and anti-social behaviour.
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Operation Staysafe uses existing child protection legislation to remove children and young people from the street late at night for their own safety and the safety of others. It is based on successful schemes in Liverpool and Preston.
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