Policy paper

2010 to 2015 government policy: knife, gun and gang crime

Updated 8 May 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Applies to England and Wales

This is a copy of a document that stated a policy of the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. The previous URL of this page was https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-knife-gun-and-gang-crime. Current policies can be found at the GOV.UK policies list.

Issue

Too many young lives are blighted by violent crime. Gang members carry out half of all shootings in the capital and 22% of all serious violence.

We want to reduce gang-related crime and stop young people becoming involved in violence. We are committed to making our communities safer places for everyone.

Actions

Ending gang violence

The Home Office, along with other government departments, is working to reduce gang and youth violence in England and Wales.

We have:

• introduced new offences of threatening with a knife in a public place or school, which will help improve prosecution rates
• dedicated £1.2 million to fund 13 support workers for girls vulnerable to, or suffering from, gang-related sexual violence
• made gang injunctions for under 18-year-olds available to the police and local authorities
• introduced changes to firearms legislation in the new Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill currently going through Parliament. We are creating an offence of possessing illegal firearms for sale or transfer, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and increasing the maximum penalty for manufacture, importation and exportation of illegal firearms

In November 2012, we held a national gang conference and released a follow-up report to Ending Gang and Youth Violence.

The report sets out how the government will support people working locally to stop gang violence. Help is available in a number of areas including health, education, Jobcentre Plus, community safety teams and criminal justice partners.

Background

Ending gang and youth violence: a cross-government report

Following the disorder in August 2011 across cities in England, the Prime Minister asked the Home Secretary to lead a review, alongside the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, into the growing problem of gangs and gang violence.

Ending gang and youth violence: cross-government report, published in November 2011, set out detailed plans for a programme to:

• provide support to local areas to fight the problem
• prevent young people from becoming involved in violence in the first place - with a new emphasis on early intervention and prevention
• offer ways out of violence and gang culture for young people who want to break with the lifestyle

In December 2013, the Ending gang and youth violence: annual report 2013 was published, along with the Ending gang and youth violence: review 2012 to 2013, which provided an overview of progress for the period of the programme.

June 2014 saw the release of the community engagement report, which highlights the basic principles of successful community engagement and provides useful case studies of local approaches.

In August 2014 the NSPCC launched a new service through their free 24-hour helpline (0808 800 5000). Funded and supported by the Home Office, the helpline is for parents, carers or any other adult worried about a child or young person at risk from gang-related activity, including those who may be at risk of being targeted by gang members. Support materials have been developed with the NSPCC.

Young people in gangs have often been exposed to damaging experiences. In January 2015:

• the Early Intervention Foundation published advice for commissioning mentoring programmes. The advice sets out some simple, evidence based information for providers of local mentoring programmes for children and young people at risk of gang involvement.

• Public Health England published a briefing note on the mental health needs of gang-affiliated young people for local partners, which sets out the links between mental health and gang involvement. This will help health services spot problems and provide support to young people at the right time.

Brooke Kinsella’s report

In June 2010 the Home Secretary asked Brooke Kinsella, whose brother Ben was murdered in 2008, to investigate knife crime. She looked at schemes running in local communities that are working to stop young people from committing violence, including violence using weapons.

Ms Kinsella published her report, Tackling knife crime together - a review of local anti-knife crime projects in February 2011. The report made a number of recommendations including:

• anti-knife crime presentations for school children
• more data sharing between police, schools and other agencies on local issues
• a best practice website for local organisations
• more work with young children to stop them getting involved in knife crime

Further information

We’ve produced a gangs leaflet that helps parents identify and respond if their children are affected by gangs, and guidance for schools and colleges affected by gang or youth violence.

Appendix 1: gang injunctions

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

Introduced in the Policing and Crime Act 2009, gang injunctions allow the police and local authorities to apply for a court order (injunction) against someone involved in gang-related violence.

Gang injunctions intend to prevent a person from engaging in, encouraging or assisting gang-related violence.

Gang injunctions place a range of prohibitions and requirements on the behaviour and activities of a person involved in gang-related violence. These conditions could include banning someone from a particular place, or to take part in rehabilitative activities.

Over the medium and longer term, gang injunctions are intended to:

• stop serious violence happening
• break down violent gang culture
• get people out of gangs

Guidance for local partners

We’ve published statutory guidance on gang injunctions to help local partners apply for and manage gang injunctions effectively.

Applicants should also refer to the Policing and Crime Act 2009 and follow the Civil Procedure Rules.

Appendix 2: women, girls and gangs

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

There is very little hard data on the number of women and girls involved in gang violence and the impact of serious violence on girls and young women by gangs is largely hidden. Research by Race on the Agenda (2010; 2011); the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (2012) and the University of Bedfordshire (2012) exposes the significant harm that gang-associated women and girls can experience.

We are making sure that our response identifies and addresses the needs of girls and young women involved in serious youth violence – as perpetrators as well as victims.

So far, we have:

• dedicated £1.2 million over 3 years to improve services for young people at risk or victims of sexual violence and exploitation by gangs. This is funding a network of 13 Young People’s Advocates to provide direct support to young people
• provided funding to Against Violence and Abuse and the Women and Girls Network, to develop specialist services and training to 58 practitioners working with girls and young women affected by gang-related sexual and domestic violence, including the 13 Young People’s Advocates
• hosted a practitioners’ workshop for over 80 practitioners and an academic roundtable to explore these issues in depth, and influence policy and practice on support to gang-associated women and girls
• run regional practitioner’s workshops with the Youth Justice Board to address the specific needs of gang-associated girls in the youth justice system

The ‘Ending gang and youth violence: one year on’ report(November 2012) set out the main commitments for 2013 about women and girls associated with gangs. In the Ending gang and youth violence: 2013 annual report there is a section dedicated to women, girls and gangs, which details what is being done to address the complex issues and needs of gang-associated young women and girls.

Gang-associated sexual exploitation

The Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation action plan, published in November 2011 and updated in July 2012, specifically highlighted the importance of all local areas recording the prevalence and nature of child sexual exploitation. We expect local safeguarding and community boards, local authorities, police forces and other agencies to do all they can to identify victims and abusers and we are looking at how we can improve data-sharing.