24 October 2008
By Paul Dicken
Home Office funding for locally led efforts to tackle violent crime is targeted at the consequences rather than the causes and should be changed to allow for strategic planning, MPs have said.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee suggested that one-off and short-term approaches to funding local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships – made up of local authorities, police forces, fire and rescue services and NHS bodies – meant initiatives were not targeting prevention.
PAC chair Edward Leigh said the National Audit Office's analysis of crime statistics had shown a reduction in the overall level of violent crime, but there was growing concern over the increase in the number of 15–17-year-olds convicted of carrying knives.
'Using the newly available information about the prevalence of knives at crime scenes, together with other research, the Home Office, police forces and Crime and Disorder Partnerships must tackle the root causes of knife possession among the young,' he said. The subject of violent crime was 'bedevilled' by a lack of reliable data on the effectiveness of interventions, while many partnerships were not using available NHS data.
The committee's report, published on October 23, came two days after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced £3m in funding for the ten areas involved in the Tackling Knives Action Programme. The money will be used to expand after-school patrols and Safer School Partnerships, which allocate a dedicated police officer to a school or group of schools.
The PAC said reliable data on the use and effectiveness of Safer School Partnerships should be collected to help promote good practice across the country. It recommended that a 'national system for the automatic sharing of depersonalised violent crime data between hospitals, police and partnerships' be established to provide a fuller picture of the extent of violent crime in local areas.
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