Interview: Lib Peck, director of the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit
Derren Hayes
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
After nearly 20 years as a Labour councillor in London and in senior roles in local government politics, Lib Peck took on the altogether different challenge of leading the work to reduce violent crime in the capital.
Peck became the director of London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) when it was set up by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in March 2019, as part of a country-wide drive to tackle rising youth violent crime.
There are 18 VRUs in England. Based on an approach first developed in Glasgow, they aim to prevent instances of violence by investing in evidence-based interventions such as education and mentoring programmes. Many of the initiatives London VRU runs and funds are youth work based and targeted at young people convicted of a violent offence or at risk of becoming involved in crime.
The VRU has just announced £3m to double the number of youth workers at the capital’s custody suites through its Engage programme. How does this scheme work?
Engage is about making sure that when young people aged 10-18 come into custody they are able to speak to a qualified youth worker who can, in that moment of reflection, understand why they have got there, offer support and hopefully encourage them to take a different way forward. It has been running in three custody suites across London since 2020 and this investment will extend it to an additional four and more than double the number of youth workers.
It does not affect the legal proceedings in any way but if those don’t go ahead then the focus shifts to just the intervention with the youth worker.
Has the evidence shown that it helps divert people from crime?
We’ve seen the impact of the programme through what young people have told us. One young person said it was the moment of connection with a youth worker that was crucial in taking him away from a situation, working through his emotions and what he needed to be doing. The money will enable us to interrogate the evidence more and present a strong case as to why it is working.
Will that be with a view to expanding Engage?
The aim of the VRU is to try different things and develop the case as to why something is working. It is not for us to mainstream that funding but to make the case for greater investment in prevention.
We’re all in this because we want to reduce violence across London and support children that are vulnerable. If we find something that connects with a young person and provides that transformation, then we absolutely want to be advocating for it to be mainstreamed.
This current investment will leave five custody suites that aren’t using Engage.
What are the key factors that youth workers bring to working with this group of young people?
There are two things: the first, is listening to young people – we often neglect the importance of listening to a young person, rather than telling them what to do. It makes them feel appreciated and part of something. Second, when a young person is in a custody suite you are looking for someone who isn’t an official and that has credibility. That’s about the language, tone, approach and not being part of the obvious establishment.
Who employs the youth workers?
In Camden, the custody suite where it started, youth workers were on secondment from the council into the scheme, so there is a very close connection with the local authority.
There is a good relationship between the youth worker, custody suite officers and the local authority and because of the place-based working you get a more joined-up service.
How long is the Engage intervention?
A key principle of youth work is that you go at the pace of the young person so there is no defined timeframe. It has to be dictated by them; the youth worker works alongside them to facilitate that.
The key factor is that there’s a teachable moment with a young person – they are in a custody suite thinking about their future; that is a moment to try and get that connection.
After that it requires meeting them outside that environment and working with them more closely to provide that support and having conversations about what they can do next, education and support – the more traditional model of youth work.
The mayor and the VRU have invested significantly in youth work. Why is that so important?
We’ve seen 10 years of austerity inflicted on youth services and the deprofessionalisation of youth work. It feels like a critical professional relationship to be investing in. We want to recognise the challenges of the profession so have established a youth practitioner advisory board. This was on the back of speaking to youth workers who said they wanted a voice to influence our work. The 10 people who came forward from across London have a real dedication and desire to see change for young people and the system.
We also ran the Rise Up training programme for 80 youth workers and have got funding to run it for a further 90 this year. Rise Up is targeted on areas particularly blighted by violence.
Lib Peck CV
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March 2019 – present: Director, London VRU
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April 2017 – March 2019: Deputy Labour leader of the LGA
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March 2018 – Feb 2019: Deputy chair of London Councils
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Nov 2012 – Feb 2019: Leader of Lambeth Council
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June 2001 – Feb 2019: Elected councillor
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Dec 1996 – March 2004: Assistant director of Justice