Extra funding is secured to tackle serious violence
LEICESTERSHIRE’S Police and Crime Commissioner, Lord Willy Bach, has revealed that the force and its partners have been granted an additional £880,000 to tackle serious violence in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
He said that an application had been made for further funding from the Government’s £35m Serious Violence Fund which is supporting the development of Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in 18 locations across the country.
Lord Bach said: “This is very welcome news. The money has been granted to help us establish a Violence Reduction Unit with key partners from health, education and social services in a true multi-agency approach.
“Now we need to work together to develop our plans further as a matter of some urgency as we must present them for Home Office approval by July 8.
“The funding has been announced after concerted efforts from our office and the police to highlight the need to tackle serious violence. In recent months I have met with government ministers, raised questions in parliament and attended numerous roundtables on the need to act and act now, to address serious violence on our streets and in our neighbourhoods. I am delighted to see that this effort has been successful.
“These units will manage the local response to serious violence and will see different partners working together to deter children and young people being drawn into a way of life that sees crime and violence as the norm.”
The Home Office, which announced the new Serious Violence Fund in April, has worked closely with a range of partners including the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) in developing policy proposals to support the award of VRU funding.
VRUs are part of new Public Health approach to tackling violence, addressing the wide mix of social, economic and cultural issues which increase the risk of violent behaviour.
The money is in addition to the £1.4m awarded earlier this year to tackle knife crime and it must be used in 2019-20 financial year.