The Government is determined to tackle serious violence, including knife crime, and has made £130m available this financial year (22/23) to do so. This includes £64m for our network of 20 Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) which bring together local partners to tackle the drivers of violence in their area, and £30m for our targeted police programme, Grip (previously Surge).<\/p>
An independent evaluation of these programmes compared numbers of police-recorded violent offences taking place in the areas where these programmes operate with matched (control) areas. This found that in their first two years of operation, the programmes had together prevented an estimated 49,000 offences.<\/p>
Over 10 years, we are also investing £200m in the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), which funds interventions to divert children and young people away from exploitation and serious violence.<\/p>
<\/p>
The previous Home Secretary visited Thames Valley Police and the VRU on 11 and 31 August. She met the Police and Crime Commissioner and other force leaders from the Southeast of England to discuss the positive work they are doing to reduce serious violence in their areas.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Home Office has provided funding to 7 police forces and VRUs across the Southeast to combat serious violence, including knife crime. The areas that receive VRU funding are London, Thames Valley, Essex, Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, and Bedfordshire.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Thames Valley VRU has received c £5.5m since 2019. This includes £1.16m in 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22, and a further £2m in 2022/23. The VRU also received additional investment of £787,000 in 2021/22 to deliver two programmes that capitalise on key moments where learning is expected to be best heard in a young person\u2019s life, such as on admission to A&E or in police custody.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Metropolitan Police and the London VRU have received a combined c.£91.1m since 2019, including c.£20.7m for this financial year. The remaining six areas have received a combined c.£54.8m since 2019, including c.£13.9m for this financial year.<\/p>
<\/p>
VRUs are also delivering youth interventions with their funding. Thames Valley\u2019s VRU-funded \u2018Hospital Navigators\u2019 programme is delivered in 5 major A&Es across the area, including Slough, and provides immediate support to young people attending A&E because of a violent incident. This supported more than 470 vulnerable young people last year and has received additional funding from the YEF to evaluate its impact.<\/p>
The South-eastern areas that receive VRU funding also receive funding for the Grip programme. Thames Valley Police have been allocated c.£4.8m over the last three years, including c.£798k for this financial year (2022/23). The Metropolitan Police have been allocated approximately £50.9m over the last three years, including £7.9m for this financial year (2022/23). The remaining six areas have received a combined c.£19.6m since 2019, including c.£3.6m in the current financial year of 2022/23.<\/p>
The Government also encourages funding to be used on national weeks of action through Operation Sceptre. The latest phase of this operation took place between 16 and 22 May 2022. In the Thames Valley Police area, 13 knives were seized during enforcement action, with a further 97 being surrendered or seized during operational weapon sweeps.<\/p>
In 2022/23, Thames Valley Police will receive up to £511.9m from Government Grants and precept. This is an increase of up to £28.6m compared to 2021/22. Through the Government\u2019s Police Uplift Programme, Thames Valley Police has been allocated 609 additional officers. As of 30 June 2022, the force has recruited 442 of these.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4507", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Jeremy Quin"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Horsham"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Jeremy Quin"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-09-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-09-20T16:29:18.677Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-09-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Knives: Crime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to tackle knife crime in (a) Slough constituency and (b) the South East.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4638", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Slough"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi"} ], "uin" : "48469"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1490273", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1490273/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes timeliness estimates of the key stages of the criminal justice system as part of the Criminal Court Statistics quarterly National Statistics release.<\/p>
The published estimates cover the periods from offence to charge, charge to first listing and through from first listing to completion (at either magistrates\u2019 and Crown Court).<\/p>
The latest published information is available to March 2022 and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics<\/a>.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4800", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Simon Baynes"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Clwyd South"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Simon Baynes"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-07-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-07-26T13:04:29.557Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2022-07-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Knives: Crime"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time has been between arrest and appearing in front of magistrates for people charged with knife possession in (a) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands in each of the last 12 years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4603", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Birmingham, Edgbaston"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Preet Kaur Gill"}
], "uin" : "38791"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1490274", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1490274/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " Tackling knife crime is a priority and the Government is determined to crack down on the scourge of violence devastating our communities.<\/p> The Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands attended a recent Home Secretary visit to Birmingham on 29 June in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.<\/p> Home Office officials are in regular contact with police forces and PCCs, including the West Midlands, about their local response to knife crime. For West Midlands, this has included recent detailed examination of local data on violent crime, and police plans to tackle it.<\/p> On 2 February 2022, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £16.9 billion in 2022/23, an increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to 2021/22.<\/p> It is for Chief Constables, directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions including how to allocate resources based on their local knowledge and experience.<\/p> West Midlands' funding will be up to £695.6m in 2022/23, an increase of up to £40.1m when compared to 2021/22.<\/p> In addition, the West Midlands has benefited from a wide range of funding intended to intervene early and divert young people from involvement in violence. Current intervention and prevention programmes were largely initiated from 2018 / 2019 and 12 years of figures are unavailable for these programmes. The funding includes:<\/p> The Home Office collects information on the number of offences involving the use of a knife or a sharp instrument recorded by the police in England and Wales at the Police Force Area level. These data can be found in the quarterly Office for National Statistics quarterly releases \u2018Crime in England and Wales\u2019.<\/p> The latest figures can be found at:<\/p> Crime in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)<\/a><\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4495", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kit Malthouse"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North West Hampshire"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Kit Malthouse"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-07-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-07-05T15:37:30.093Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2022-06-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Knives: Crime"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish data on the number of knife crimes in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Havering in the last five years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1447", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Rosindell"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romford"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Andrew Rosindell"}
], "uin" : "25758"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1483408", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1483408/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly \u2018Knife and Offensive Weapons Statistics\u2019 available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly<\/a>.<\/p> Information on sentence lengths can be found within the main data tables, specifically, table 3 Information on repeat offenders can be found in tables 7 to 9 (inclusive).<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4519", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for James Cartlidge"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Suffolk"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "James Cartlidge"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-07-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-07-04T15:36:19.46Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2022-06-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Knives: Crime"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average custodial sentence length is for a prisoner convicted of a knife crime.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1447", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Rosindell"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Romford"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Andrew Rosindell"}
], "uin" : "25759"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1472172", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1472172/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " We recognise the impact the pandemic has had on timeliness, and the Government is committed to continuing to work to reduce waiting times for victims, witnesses and other court users.<\/p> Over the next three financial years we are investing an extra £477 million for the Criminal Justice System to help improve waiting times for victims of crime.<\/p> We are investing £1 million in a programme of work to support the recruitment of new magistrates. Over the next three financial years we are aiming to recruit 4,000 new magistrates.<\/p> As a result of these measures, in the magistrates' court, the criminal caseload has fallen from 445,000 in July 2020 to 358,100 in April 2022.<\/p> The table below sets out timeliness of magistrates' courts cases for charge to first listing before a magistrate (known also as first hearing, or first appearance) for the offences of:<\/p>