Funding the frontline: tackling youth crime in London

Youth crime is a considerable and growing issue for London.  The total number of teenage murders has increased significantly from 17 in 2006 to 32 in 2008. These worrying figures are disproportionately high in comparison to the rest of the UK.

London’s local authorities are at the frontline of youth crime prevention, but face numerous difficulties in accessing the funds they need to tackle youth crime.  London Councils funding the frontline report illustrates the breadth and complexity of the funding streams in place, and the problems that this creates. 

Youth crime prevention funding streams come from various government departments with little strategic overview - creating needless bureaucracy, duplication, and reporting requirements for London boroughs. The problem is exacerbated by the government’s top-down approach to allocating funding.

Local authorities are often asked to change their local priorities in order to deliver the government’s own funding aims without any prior consultation.  Yet clearly it is the authorities themselves that are best placed to understand the needs of local young people. In the rush to be seen to be ‘doing something’, the government sometimes fails to listen the expertise of local authorities, and the result is a series of fragmented initiatives and funding streams.

London Councils’ funding the frontline report, which examines this issue in more detail, was launched on 22 April. It recommends that the government:

• Aligns its youth crime prevention funding streams should and adopts a strategic approach to allocation.  Youth crime prevention needs to be delivered through local strategic partnerships, and boroughs must be involved in conversations about new initiatives
• consults the new Serious Youth Violence Board for London, set up by London local government and its partners to tackle youth crime at a local and regional level
• Utilises the best practice repository currently being developed by London Councils and the Mayor of London, to ensure proven schemes and initiatives are properly resourced
• Channels some of the funding through the Area Based Grant, which would enable boroughs more flexibility in respond to local pressures.

London Councils will continue to work with the government, the Mayor and the Serious Youth Violence Board to create a more efficient and locally flexible response to youth crime and its causes.