Post-riot gang plan makes limited progress

The summer riots in 2011 prompted a major government strategy to tackle gangs and youth violence last November.

But one year on, progress is slow. As revealed on cypnow.co.uk, only one youth gang injunction has been granted since the measure was introduced in January this year.

As part of the Ending Gang and Youth Violence strategy, the government also pledged to improve teaching on youth violence in schools.

CYP Now understands the Home Office was keen to introduce lessons on gang issues, but the Department for Education opposed the move.

Meanwhile, there has been no announcement on a pledge to explore ways to improve the education of young people in the youth secure estate.

Mandatory sentences for 16- and 17-year-olds found to be carrying a knife, another element of the strategy, are also yet to come into effect. Tim Bateman, criminologist at the University of Bedfordshire, is unenthusiastic about the value of that specific proposal. “My view is that it is very unlikely to change behaviour,” he says. “Most young people don’t think that they are going to get caught when they commit offences. What you do in terms of sentencing has very little impact.”

Peer review scheme
One area that is making headway is a peer review scheme to assess different approaches to tackling gangs. The ending gang and youth violence team, which was established by the strategy, has been working with a network of professionals including mental health experts, child protection specialists and police officers to review how local areas are responding to gangs.

In the first six months of the programme, up to October this year, the team had completed peer reviews in 13 of the 30 “hotspot” authorities, with the rest due to