Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make additional funding available for (a) local authorities, (b) educational institutions and (c) health services to implement serious violence partnerships.

This Government recognises that tackling serious violence is not only a law enforcement issue, it needs a multi-agency approach involving a range of partners with a focus on prevention and early intervention. That is why we continue to take a whole system approach to violence prevention, exemplified by our £105.5m investment to date in Violence Reduction Units that co-ordinate the partnership response to violence in their areas, and by implementing the Serious Violence Duty that will ensure that serious violence is made a focus within existing multi-agency arrangements across England and Wales, allowing for greater collaboration between a wider set of partners.

Following the recent outcome of the Spending Review, we have committed to investing £150 million a year to continue and expand programmes that prevent crime and keep our communities safe. We will provide greater detail on the funding allocations later this year.