News

'Enough is enough' gang summit message

14 February 2008

The Lambeth community is agreeing a tough action plan to tackle violent youth crime at a major summit at the Oval on February 14, making the borough the first in the country to have a comprehensive approach to tackling gun, gang and knife crime.

The event, which takes place a year after fifteen year old Billy Cox lost his life to gun crime on Clapham's Fenwick Estate, will also include a tribute to all young people and families who have been affected by violent crime.   The tribute will be led by local young people whose lives have turned around on the council’s award-winning X-it programme, including some who have been involved in gangs.

The action plan will be published along with research into the causes of violent crime.  The research has been produced over the last six months by a council-coordinated executive commission.  It was put together after 27 young people in London lost their lives in 2007, despite five successive years of overall crime reduction in Lambeth.

Proposals on the table include a hotline for parents, a forty percent increase in investment to help young people get their lives back on track, a new intelligence gathering unit to target young criminals and seven day opening for Lambeth youth clubs. 

Partners including the council, police, local community groups and practitioners working in the youth sector will sign an action 'pledge' at the Lambeth First summit, committing to take tough action on this issue.

Cllr Steve Reed, Leader of Lambeth Council, said: "Today the community is getting together to say enough is enough - we will take every step to protect Lambeth's sons and daughters and to give them the best possible chances in life.  Only a minority of young people are involved in violent crime, but these crimes have a devastating impact on family, friends and the community.

"I set up our executive commission to look into the causes of violent crime among young people, to see which measure are already working and what more we can do to reduce crime among young people.

"Involving parents and the community is key to solving this problem, and we hope the ideas we are discussing today will provide the framework for a safer community for our young people in future.  Lambeth has been at the heart of the problem of guns, gangs and knife crime, but now we are putting ourselves at the heart of the solution."

Cllr Lorna Campbell, deputy cabinet member for community cohesion and chair of commission said: “We already know that guns, gangs and knife crime are the major issues for many young people and families in Lambeth. This report and this summit is about is about getting to the heart of those problems and finding real solutions.”

Suggested measures cover key areas including enforcement, schools, youth services, community support, skills training and family support, including:

• a dedicated hotline to provide advice for parents who are concerned their children are involved in crime, along with a forum where parents can share advice and support.  
• establishing an independent trust part-governed by parents and the community that could control a significant amount of spending to support for young people. 
• increasing the use of parenting orders and contracts when parents don't fulfil their responsibilities. 
• an additional £1.75 million will be invested in youth services this year, and will be used to extend youth club opening hours
• a ‘detached’ youth working team, with specialist knowledge of Lambeth ‘crews’, will also be created, to extend current youth work and reach the most socially excluded young people. 
• the council’s award winning X-it programme, which has been successful in preventing 72 percent of young attendees from re-offending, will also be extended across the borough.
• tailored training courses will also help increase employment opportunities for young people living in areas of high unemployment, with a target of 70 per cent employment by 2012.
• on the enforcement side a new intelligence gathering unit will be created to help police and other agencies to share information they already hold separately about problem families and individuals.

The executive commission that carried out background research to inform that action plan was chaired by Cllr Lorna Campbell, deputy cabinet member for community cohesion, and included senior council officers, representatives from the Metropolitan Police Service, South Bank University, GLA, and community organisations.  The commission met on 11 occasions between July and November 2007.  It obtained verbal testimonies, visited schools and youth projects and carried out an extensive literature review.

Background information on crime prevention in Lambeth

The Safer Lambeth partnership, which consists of the council, police and other agencies tackling crime, have a range of measures in place to prevent young people from getting involved in crime, including intervention programmes like X-it.  The programme has a 72 percent success rate at preventing reoffending and recently won the Guardian Public Service Award. 

A Drug Deterrence Policy is also being launched by the council this year, which means that people who come to Lambeth to buy their drugs could find their faces splashed on a prominent poster in the town centre.

The council currently spends £3 million on youth services, covering youth clubs across the borough and supporting a network of other voluntary sector programmes.  From April this year, the council will spend an extra £1.7 million over the next three years.

The Safer Lambeth Partnership has just received a ‘good’ safety rating from the Audit Commission for significant crime reduction in challenging circumstances.  Serious crime has reduced by 20 percent over the last year and there were 3,100 fewer incidences of crime. Fear of crime has also decreased, with the number of Lambeth residents who say they feel safe having risen by 13% over the last year, significantly higher than the London average.