Crime ‘spike’ on agenda

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman (right) meets West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson and Chief Supt Julie Sykes, of Kirklees Police awareness of changing behaviours through projects paid for by money from the Home Office Early Intervention Youth Fund.

Some of the £1.1m allocated to West Yorkshire will be used in Kirklees to help reduce gang-related violence.

An extra £211,000 from the commissioner’s Safer Communities Fund (SCF), made up from the proceeds of crime, supported 16 projects throughout the district specifically focusing on responding to serious violence.

Mr Burns-Williamson added: “It was also an opportunity to share some of the innovative and ongoing research that I have commissioned, in conjunction with the Kirklees Youth Intervention Team.

“This is exploring social media use as a trigger and catalyst for youth violence and designing interventions to prevent it, which is very timely given the recent events at the school in Almondbury, which we also discussed.

“Although we reflected on some positive approaches in dealing with perpetrators, such as the first use of gangbo injunctions in Kirklees, our efforts clearly do not end here.”

Mr Sheerman said the meeting was “stimulating” and that he was heartened by the work taking place across Kirklees by volunteers dealing with youth crime.

“Kirklees doesn’t have any youth services any more.

“Everything is done by charity groups,” he said.

“When we talked to the police I didn’t realise that it had put a substantial amount of cash into youth services.

“We have a lot of volunteer groups but many are working in isolation.

“We might be able to get some match-funding and use it as a way to get all the youth groups involved in Kirklees working together and looking for new ideas.

“I know the police would like to be part of that.”