Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason her Department disbanded the Serious Violence Taskforce; and whether her Department plans to reconvene that Taskforce.

The Serious Violence Taskforce was established in 2018 to oversee the implementation of the Serious Violence Strategy. It last met on 26 June 2019 and the Government is very grateful for the work of the Taskforce which brought together Ministers and key partners.

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary are driving a united government response to ensure we use every lever at our disposal to fight crime. To effectively support this, we have redesigned our governance and decided to discontinue the Serious Violence Task Force.

In January 2020, the Prime Minister announced a new Cabinet Committee on crime and justice – the Crime and Justice Taskforce – with serious violence being a priority area of focus. The Crime and Justice Taskforce is chaired by the Prime Minister, with core membership from the Home Secretary (deputy chair); Chancellor of the Exchequer; Secretary of State for Justice; Attorney General; and the Minister for Crime and Policing. Other government departments including Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care attend the Crime and Justice Taskforce, depending on the agenda of each meeting.

We have also established comprehensive governance arrangements to make sure the ambitions of the Prime Minister’s Task Force are delivered on the ground – including the National Policing Board chaired by the Home Secretary.