Conservatives outline anti-gang measures
Joe Lepper
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Conservative Party has unveiled a package of measures aimed at diverting young people in disadvantaged areas away from gangs and into work or education.
The measures include creating job placements for 18 to 21-year-olds in areas worst affected by gang culture.
The Conservatives also pledged to make it easier for charities involved in crime prevention and supporting young people to get access to funding and win government welfare and training contracts.
Government contracting for such charities and organisations would become "less burdensome," the party claimed. There would be less interference by government in methods of service delivery and a greater emphasis on payment by results.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling said action was needed as many areas of Britain, "have become a throwback to the nineteenth century of Victorian gangs and vast social divides".
"The only way to start to heal the huge social gulf that now exists in our cities, is to demonstrate to those who are caught up in the gang culture that there is a better alternative, that they can build successful lives if they get the right opportunity to train and work," he added.
