• Business
  • Community
  • Crime
  • Education
  • Health
  • Politics
  • What’s On
  • Traffic & Travel
  • Weather
Bath Echo
  • Friday 22nd January 2021
  • Subscribe
  • Opinion
  • Reviews
  • Letters
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Editions
Bath Echo

Bath, GB

  • Business
  • Community
  • Crime
  • Education
  • Health
  • Politics
  • What’s On
  • Traffic & Travel
  • Weather
Home
News Headlines
Crime

Funding boost to help reduce serious violence among local young people

Friday 10th January 2020 Bath Echo News Team Bath Echo News Team Crime

Share
Tweet
WhatsApp
Pin
Share
7 Shares

The drive to reduce serious violence among local young people, through a multi-agency working group headed by PCC Sue Mountstevens, has been given renewed funding from the Home Office.

Avon and Somerset PCC Sue Mountstevens

The Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), co-ordinated by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), is made up of partners including police, all five local authorities, education, clinical commissioning groups, public health departments, charities and community groups.

The VRU was set up in September after the PCC and Chief Constable Andy Marsh pushed to be one of 18 force areas in England and Wales to be awarded additional money to tackle offences like stabbings and serious violence among young people – a problem that has soared nationally.

The VRU was initially given £1.16m, and the Government has just announced a further £1.16m for Avon and Somerset for the financial year beginning in April 2020 – part of a national pot of £35million.

Sue Mountstevens said: “We welcome the announcement from the Home Office of renewed funding to establish and build on a public health approach to tackling the root causes of these terrible offences that are having a devastating impact on victims, perpetrators, their families and entire communities.

“Recent cases in our area which involved the conviction of a 14-year-old for manslaughter involving a knife and another 14-year-old who was charged with murder in December following the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old, only reinforces to me how important it is to identify and provide interventions for these young people at a much earlier stage before they are so far down that path.

“If it gets to the stage where paramedics are picking these children up off the floor having been stabbed or police are arresting them for hurting someone then we have already failed.

“We are going to have to be brave and understand that we can’t only police our way out of this issue and this is not going to go away overnight.

“Sustainability is going to be the key to this work. It is important to be clear that this is not a quick fix and taking this bigger picture approach, which is widely recognised by all partners as the only way to tackle it effectively, is going to need commitment and long term investment.”

Earlier this week the second strategic meeting took place in which partners met and discussed their initial findings from assessments of the scale of the problem in the five local authority areas and plans for the type of interventions they are planning to roll out for young people who are at risk of being becoming involved in criminal exploitation, grooming and knife crime.

Share
Tweet
WhatsApp
Pin
Share
7 Shares
Next article Thousands of meals donated thanks to Bath's generous Tesco shoppers
Previous article Council's cabinet set to discuss future of Mead Lane moorings in Saltford

Related Stories

Last chance to have say on plans to increase policing part of council tax
Thursday 21st January 2021

Last chance to have say on plans to increase policing part of council tax

CCTV upgrade to give police live access to feeds across Avon and Somerset
Thursday 21st January 2021

CCTV upgrade to give police live access to feeds across Avon and Somerset

Residents being reminded to exercise and not socialise in Bath's parks
Friday 15th January 2021

Residents being reminded to exercise and not socialise in Bath's parks

...
Followers
Follow
...
Likes
Like
...
Followers
Follow

Top Stories

Countdown is on to the introduction of Bath's Clean Air Zone this March

Countdown is on to the introduction of Bath's Clean Air Zone this March

Thursday 21st January 2021
Last chance to have say on plans to increase policing part of council tax

Last chance to have say on plans to increase policing part of council tax

Thursday 21st January 2021
Councillors call for vaccination centre to be opened in Peasedown St John

Councillors call for vaccination centre to be opened in Peasedown St John

Thursday 21st January 2021
CCTV upgrade to give police live access to feeds across Avon and Somerset

CCTV upgrade to give police live access to feeds across Avon and Somerset

Thursday 21st January 2021
New Bath Spa University campus strategy could free up land for housing

New Bath Spa University campus strategy could free up land for housing

Wednesday 20th January 2021
  • Business
  • Community
  • Crime
  • Education
  • Health
  • Politics
  • What’s On
  • Traffic & Travel
  • Weather
  • Back to top
Created by Media Bath - Regulated by IMPRESS

About the Bath Echo | Your City, Your News

We're your local independent newspaper covering news and events across beautiful Bath and the close surrounding villages. We're here to help keep Bathonians in the know about what's going on in their city.

Useful Info

  • House Rules
  • Cookie Policy
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Complaints Policy
  • Social Media Policy
© Bath Echo 2021. All rights reserved.
Produced by Media Bath Limited
The Bath Echo website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're okay with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Okay Find Out More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.