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<p>In April 2018, the Government published the Serious Violence Strategy which sets
out a comprehensive set of 61 commitments and actions we are taking to tackle violent
crime. This includes launching a £22m Early Intervention Youth Fund, which is already
supporting 29 projects in England and Wales; a national knife crime media campaign:
#knife free; a new National County Lines Coordination Centre and the Offensive Weapons
Bill, which will strengthen legislation on firearms, knives and corrosive substances.
<br>On 2 October 2018, the Home Secretary announced further important measures including
a consultation on new legal duty to support a multi-agency approach to preventing
and tackling serious violence, a new long term £200 million Youth Endowment Fund and
an Independent Review of Drug Misuse.</p><p>Most recently, on 13 March, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer announced an additional £100 million of funding for serious violence
in 2019/20. This funding will directly support the police’s immediate response to
the rise in serious knife crime, as well as supporting investment in Violence Reduction
Units, which will bring together a range of agencies including health, education,
social services and others to develop a multi-agency approach to preventing serious
violence altogether. It is important that we recognise that greater law enforcement
on its own will not reduce serious violence and that we must continue to focus on
prevention.</p><p>With specific reference to Barnsley and the Sheffield City Region,
we have awarded almost £1.25m from the Early Intervention Youth Fund to the Police
and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire in support of two projects, one of which
is working in Barnsley and the other in Sheffield. In addition, alongside all other
police forces in England and Wales, South Yorkshire Police took part in a national
week of action to tackle knife crime, called Operation Sceptre, from 11-18 March 2019.</p>
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