Violence reduction summary reports
Published 9 October 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/violence-reduction-reports-data-for-april-2021-to-march-2024/violence-reduction-summary-reports
Introduction
In 2019, the Home Office announced that 18 police force areas (PFAs) would receive funding to establish (or build upon existing) violence reduction units (VRUs) as part of the Serious Violence Fund. In 2022, a further 2 PFAs received funding to establish VRUs. The aim of VRUs is to lead and coordinate a preventative approach to violence reduction, which comprises:
- multi-agency working
- data sharing and analysis
- engaging young people and communities
- commissioning (and delivering) evidence-based interventions
Main reports
The violence reduction summary reports show data at VRU level and for the upper tier local authorities covered by the VRU. The accompanying data set also includes totals for middle layer super output areas (MSOAs) but covering 5 years to account for the smaller numbers at this geography.
There are 17 reports available which are:
The reports do not include the South Wales VRU because the analysis was carried out for VRUs in England only. Reports covering the 2021 to 2024 period could not be produced for Cleveland VRU and Humberside VRU because they were not established until 2022.
If you have any comments, questions or feedback, contact us at lkis@dhsc.gov.uk. Please use ‘Violence reduction summary reports: data for 2024 to 2025’ as the email subject.