Funding the frontline

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.

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 London Councils' report Funding the frontline: tackling youth crime in London 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.