Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the findings of the report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Knife Crime that rising knife crime is linked to cuts in youth services, what are their plans to introduce a national youth strategy; and who will be responsible for its implementation.

No report has yet been issued by the APPG on Knife Crime and statistics published to date are interim ones pending further responses from Local Authorities. We will make a full assessment of those findings once a report is published.

The government recognises that the causes of knife crime are complex and are often tied to local factors and we are committed to taking a multi-agency approach to tackling serious violence.

Last month following the Prime Minister’s summit on serious youth violence, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced that the Government will be developing a new Youth Charter, which will set out our vision for young people over the next generation and beyond. We will be working closely across government, and alongside young people themselves, the youth sector, and other partners.

My department will also continue to work closely with the Home Office on the implementation of the Serious Violence Strategy.