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Issue - meetings

Meeting: 17/01/2020 - WMCA Board (Item 79)

79 West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit pdf icon PDF 231 KB

Presented By: David Jamieson

Decision:

(1)       The progress to date on the establishment of the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit - a collaborative regional approach to addressing violence, vulnerability and exploitation - was noted and welcomed.

 

(2)       The WMCA committed to actively working with the Violence Reduction Unit on its prevention agenda - including through agreements for each West Midlands authority to work with the Violence Reduction Unit in ways that added value, supported preventative work in local settings (including targeting funding to the right places), and could be held to account through appropriate local forums.

Minutes:

The Police & Crime Commissioner David Jamieson, as the Portfolio Lead and accountable body, presented the report on the Violence Reduction Unit. The purpose of the report was to note the establishment of the Violence Reduction Unit and for the WMCA to commit to supporting the unit’s preventative agenda.

 

Within the West Midlands, gun crime had increased by 33% and instances of knife crime had increased by 85% since 2012. Domestic violence had increased 14% since 2018 and violent crime against the person was up 32% during the last year. The Violence Reduction Unit sought to bring together a number of programmes that were seeking to tackle these issues. The report set out the future role of the Violence Reduction Unit in relation to Community Safety Partnerships and statutory safeguarding arrangements.

 

David Jamieson stressed the significance of knife crime within the region, and the disproportionate impact it had on younger people. He welcomed the Prime Minister’s intention to take a personal interest in this issue, and considered that violence in the community was something that wider society could do something about with the right targeted measures, of which the Violence Reduction Unit had a key role to play. He also thanked Councillor George Duggins for the recent Youth Violence Summit hosted by Coventry City Council. Councillor George Duggins stressed the importance of taking a public health approach to tackling violence, and welcomed the partnership working that had led to the creation of the Violence Reduction Unit.

 

Resolved:

 

(1)       The progress to date on the establishment of the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit - a collaborative regional approach to addressing violence, vulnerability and exploitation - be noted and welcomed.

 

(2)       The WMCA commit to actively working with the Violence Reduction Unit on its prevention agenda - including through agreements for each West Midlands authority to work with the Violence Reduction Unit in ways that added value, supported preventative work in local settings (including targeting funding to the right places), and could be held to account through appropriate local forums.