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<p>We are clear that robust and consistent sentences for knife crime are an important
part of the effort needed to reduce these crimes. Right across Government we are very
clear that we must continue to give judges the powers they need to impose tough sentences
on those involved in serious violence including knife crime. While individual sentencing
decisions are a matter for the courts, we are catching and prosecuting more people
who carry a knife, and those who are convicted are now more likely to go to prison,
and for longer. Through the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, the Government introduced
the sentencing provision that anyone caught in possession of a knife for a second
time will now face a mandatory minimum custodial sentence of at least six months for
adults and a detention and training order of at least four months for those aged 16
and 17 years old. This came into force on 17 July 2015.</p><p>We know that this can
only ever be part of the response, and that tackling knife crime requires action on
many fronts. This is reflected in the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy which
sets out our response to serious violence and outlines an ambitious programme involving
61 commitments and actions. Since launching the Strategy in April last year, we have
made significant progress in delivering on our key commitments including:</p><p>•
The Early Intervention Youth Fund of £22m, which is already supporting <br> 29 projects
in England and Wales;<br>• Provision of £3.6m for a new National County Lines Co-ordination
<br> Centre. The centre was established to tackle violent and exploitative <br> criminal
activity associated with county lines and became fully <br> operational in September
2018;<br>• The National County Lines Coordination Centre has co-ordinated two <br>
separate weeks of intensive law enforcement action resulting in more <br> than 1000
arrests, over 1300 individuals engaged for safeguarding, <br> and significant seizures
of weapons and drugs; <br>• An anti-knife crime Community Fund which provided £1.5
million in <br> 2018/19 to support 68 projects;<br>• The Offensive Weapons Bill to
strengthen legislation on firearms, <br> knives and corrosive substances; and<br>•
A national knife crime media campaign - #knifefree - to raise <br> awareness of the
consequences of knife crime.</p><p>On 2 October 2018 the Home Secretary announced
further measures to address violent crime, as follows:</p><p>• a consultation on new
legal duty to underpin a ‘public health’ approach to tackling serious violence- this
would mean police officers, educa-tion partners, local authority and health care professionals
will have a new legal duty to take action and prevent violent crime.</p><p>• a new
£200 million youth endowment fund- this will be delivered over 10 years and will support
interventions with children and young people at risk of involvement in crime and violence.
It will focus on those most at risk, such as those displaying signs such as truancy,
aggres-sion and involvement in anti-social behaviour; funding interventions to steer
children and young people away from becoming serious offend-ers; and</p><p>• an Independent
Review of Drug Misuse. On 8 February, we <br> appointed Dame Carol Black to lead a
major review that will look into <br> the ways in which drugs are fuelling serious
violence. The approach <br> establishes a new balance between prevention and the rigorous
law <br> enforcement activity. It will shift our approach towards steering young <br>
people away from crime in the first place and put in place measures <br> to tackle
the root causes. We believe that the approach set out in the <br> Strategy, with a
greater emphasis on early intervention, will address <br> violent crime and help young
people to develop the skills and <br> resilience to live happy and productive lives
away from violence but <br> we cannot deliver this alone.</p><p>On 13 March the Chancellor
of the Exchequer announced in the Spring Statement that there will be £100 million
additional funding in 2019/20 to tackle serious violence, including £80m of new funding
from the Treasury. This will allow police to swiftly crack-down on knife crime on
the areas of the country and also allow investment in Violence Reduction Units.</p>
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