Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the availability of youth services on the level of violent crime committed by young people.

As set out in the Serious Violence Strategy there are a range of complex factors driving the increase in serious violence, most noticeably changes in the drugs market.

The Government is investing £220 million in early intervention and prevention initiatives to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence. We have provided £22 million through the Early Intervention Youth Fund, through which we are supporting 40 projects across England and Wales, and we are providing £200million through the Youth Endowment Fund which is a 10-year fund to prevent young people at highest risk of involvement in serious violence from becoming involved in crime and violence. Both these funds aim to support vulnerable young people to seek positive opportunities and lead lives free from violence and crime.

The Government recognises that local youth services are an important partner in tackling violent crime. In September 2019 the Chancellor announced £500million to go to a national Youth Investment Fund. This is a significant investment which will go towards building new youth centres across the country, refurbishing existing facilities, investing in activities for young people which teach important life skills, and investing in the youth work profession.

We are also providing £100million through the Serious Violence Fund in 2019/20 to the 18 police force areas worst affected by serious violence. £63.4 million of this fund was allocated to pay for an immediate surge in police operational activity; £1.6 million was deployed to improve the quality of data on serious violence; the remaining £35 million was invested in Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) which form a key component of our action to prevent violence by understanding its root causes. A further £35 million has been announced for VRUs for 2020/21.