Vicky Foxcroft – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Vicky Foxcroft on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what contribution his Department is making to Government steps to reduce the incidence of serious youth violence.

Mr Edward Vaizey

This Government is committed to reducing youth violence. On 13 January 2016 the Home Office published the new Ending Gang Violence and Exploitation approach. This has a twin focus concerned with both reducing violence and protecting vulnerable individuals from exploitation by gangs, and how the Home Office want to work with national and local partners to respond to this.

The Home Office’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, published on 23 March 2016, sets out a range of measures they are taking, including working with the police and industry to ensure there are effective controls on the sales of knives, particularly to under-18s. The Home Office has agreed a set of principles with major retailers and the British Retail Consortium to prevent the underage sale of knives and to ensure knives are displayed safely.

Government is also supporting police action taken against knife crime. Most recently, in February 2016, the Home Office supported thirteen police forces who undertook coordinated action against knife crime. This involved targeting habitual knife carriers, weapon sweeps, test purchases of knives from identified retailers, and use of surrender bins.

In addition, DCMS launched the Sport Strategy in December 2015, which sets out how sport can play a role in inclusivity and giving everyone the best chance in life.