Home Secretary to launch Serious Violence Strategy

Home Secretary Amber Rudd today sets out a multi-million pound commitment to steering young people away from crime and tackling violent drug-dealing gangs through the government’s first Serious Violence Strategy.

Commissioned by the Home Secretary and backed with £40m of Home Office funding, it marks a major shift in the government’s response to knife crime and gun crime.

It strikes a balance between prevention and robust law enforcement with a new £11m Early Intervention Youth Fund for community projects to help young people live lives free from violence.

The strategy identifies the changing drugs market – in particular the devastating impact of crack cocaine – as a key driver of the violence harming our communities and announces a range of powerful actions to tackle the issue of “county lines” and its implications for drugs, violence and exploitation of vulnerable people.

That includes £3.6m to establish a new National County Lines Coordination Centre.

The Home Secretary will launch the Serious Violence Strategy at an event in London today to an audience of community groups, public sector partners and industry representatives, including organisations and charities she has met in recent weeks.