Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the announcement entitled New Taskforce to Take Action Against Violent Crime, published on 26 April 2018, (a) what the frequency of meetings of the taskforce will be and (b) what the programme of work for the taskforce will be in the next 12 months.

The Serious Violence Taskforce has been established to oversee and drive implementation of the strategy. The Taskforce is chaired by the Home Secretary and brings together Ministers, Members of Parliament, the Mayor of London, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Director General of the National Crime Agency, other senior police leaders, and public sector and voluntary sector chief executives.

The Taskforce met for the first time on 26 April and agreed a forward look programme of work for the first four meetings. At the first meeting in April the Taskforce looked at action underway to tackle county lines. The Taskforce has just met again on 11 June for the second time and focused on violent content available via social media. The Taskforce will meet in July to discuss the Early Intervention Youth Fund and again in September to consider local partnerships and engaging communities. At the September meeting, the Taskforce will also review and agree its forward look for the next sequence of meetings based on the actions underway and key areas of challenge. It is intended that meetings of the Taskforce will be on a regular basis.