Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on anti-violence education programmes in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.

Halving knife crime over the next decade is a central priority for this Government. Reducing youth-related violence, including in the North East of England, will be critical to achieving this goal.

Home Office officials hold monthly discussions with the Northumbria Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) on delivery of early intervention and prevention programmes, including anti-violence education.

For 2025/26, Northumbria VRU has been allocated £2,140,937, including funding for a range of interventions. These include educational programmes for professionals to raise awareness of the impact of knife crime; active bystander training; and mentoring initiatives and sports programmes to provide positive engagement and help to steer young people away from violence.

The Home Office also engages regularly with a wider network of Violence Reduction Units and Serious Violence Duty partnerships in England to discuss their progress in embedding a public health approach to violence prevention.

The Home Office also meets regularly with Department for Education colleagues to discuss the inclusion of related issues in the curriculum.

As part of the updated Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, primary school pupils will learn how to manage relationship challenges and seek help when concerned about violence. At secondary level, the focus will be on developing social and emotional skills to avoid conflict, understanding the law on knives and violence, and knowing which trusted adults to approach.