Funding the frontline report: April 2009

Tackling youth crime in London

Youth crime is a considerable and growing issue for London. The total number of murders in London has decreased since 2003/04 yet, despite this, the number of teenage murders increased significantly from 17 in 2006 to 26 in 2007, with a further 30 teenage murders in 2008.

In total, 72 young people aged 10-19 were murdered in the UK in 2008. In this context, London’s figures are disproportionately high considering London only accounts for 11 per cent of the UK teenage population. Local authorities in London are at the frontline of youth crime prevention in the capital but, as this report shows, the current way in which funding to tackle youth crime is provided prevents authorities from using these resources to their best effect.

There are currently a number of funding streams in place that focus specifically on preventing youth crime. The report provides a snapshot of the 10 main grants currently channelled to London local authorities to tackle youth crime. The diversity of funding streams and overlapping of initiatives creates problems for London authorities on the frontline of youth crime prevention and leads to funding not being used efficiently to tackle youth crime where it is needed most.

The government has made some efforts to join up recent initiatives, such as the Youth Crime Action Plan and work to prevent violent extremism. However, as the report reveals, there is still considerable duplication of initiatives. London authorities are best placed to understand the needs of their local young people and the government should be liaising directly with London boroughs when designing new initiatives and associated funding streams.

The London Councils report: 'Funding the frontline: tackling youth crime in London Opens in a new window' sets out some of the difficulties faced by local authorities and suggests solutions which would allow a more efficient and locally flexible response to youth crime and its causes.

London Councils is also held a breakfast seminar Opens in a new window to mark the launch of the report.

Other useful links:

• London Youth Crime Prevention Board Opens in a new window
• Young London Matters Opens in a new window
• London Safeguarding Children Boards Opens in a new window (LSCBs).