• Essex receives an extra  £686,000  to tackle serious violent crime, including knife crime and murder.
• This investment is part of the £130.5 million funding package announced to tackle serious violent crime across England and Wales.
• The funding package will help to prevent some of the most serious types of crime and deliver safer communities for the British public.

Roger Hirst has welcomed the announcement that the Conservative Government is making available over £130 million to tackle serious violent crime – including murder and knife crime – in the coming year.

Essex will receive £686,000 of part of this extra funding, as one of the 18 areas across England and Wales selected for targeted police action.

The total £130.5 million funding package includes £30 million to support the police to take targeted action in parts of England and Wales most affected by serious violence, as well as up to £23 million for a new early intervention programme that will help stop young people from being drawn into the cycle of violence.

In addition to this funding, today’s announcement also provides: £10 million to expand domestic abuse perpetrator programmes – working with offenders to help them change and prevent abuse happening in the first place, over £3 million to expand investigations into gang related material on social media, £1.6 million towards piloting the Creating Opportunities Forum which helps provide access to employment opportunities for young people at risk of serious violence, and £1 million to set up and pilot new homicide reviews – helping to prevent future deaths.

The funding package comes ahead of the introduction of a major criminal justice Bill, which will give police new stop and search powers to tackle known knife and weapons carriers, place a duty on public sector bodies – including police, education and health agencies – to take a joined-up approach to addressing serious violence, and require local agencies to review the circumstances when a homicide takes place involving offensive weapons, such as knives.

This funding builds on the unprecedented work that this government is doing to tackle serious violence in our communities. With £105 million already invested in Violence Reduction Units – supporting over 100,000 young people, increasing police recruitment and our work to get dangerous weapons off the streets via Serious Violence Reduction Orders, we are delivering on our promise to keep the public safe by making our communities safer for the British public.

Commenting, Roger Hirst said:

“I am delighted that Essex will receive an extra £686,000 to tackle the violent crime that has been robbing too many young people of their futures. This funding ensures our police have all of the tools and resources they need to tackle violent crime and address its underlying causes in our community, whilst also funding vital early intervention programmes that do positive preventative work with children and young people. By backing our police with the funding, powers and resources they need, we are keeping the public and our communities safe, so that people everywhere can live their lives free from the fear of crime.”

Commenting, Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

"I am determined to cut crime and make our streets safer, which is why we are recruiting 20,000 more police officers, introducing new stop and search powers and giving the police the resources they need to go after the serious violent criminals causing misery in communities. But when it comes to gangs and serious violence, we must also tackle underlying causes. That is why we are investing in a new early intervention programme to stop young people committing these crimes in the first place.”

We are taking to significant steps to tackle serious violence:

• Delivering over £130 million to tackle serious violence and turn our young people away from crime. The funding package includes £30 million to support the police to take targeted action in parts of England and Wales most affected by serious violence, as well as up to £23 million for a new early intervention programme that will help stop young people from being drawn into the cycle of violence (Home Office, Press Release, 8 March 2021, link).
• Boosting police funding by £636 million this year, ensuring our frontline officers have everything need to keep us safe. This brings total police funding up to £15.8 billion for 2021-2022, including £400 million to recruit 20,000 new officers by 2023, £914 million for counter-terrorism policing, and £1.1 billion to target national priorities such as reducing serious violence and clamping down on county lines (Home Office, News Story, 17 December 2020, link).
• Recruiting 20,000 new police officers, helping to keep our streets safe. We have already recruited 6,620 new officers, and we are on track to recruit 20,000 extra officers by 2023. As part of this year’s £636 million police funding settlement, more than £400 million will go towards recruiting additional officers. (Home Office, News Story, 28 January 2021, link).
• Introducing personalised stop and search powers, helping officers to target persistent offenders. SVRO’s are court-imposed orders which will apply to individuals previously convicted of carrying a knife or an offensive weapon. Police will be able to stop and search those who are subject to an SVRO to check if they are carrying a knife or offensive weapon again (Home Office, News Story, 14 September 2020, link).
• Enshrining a new police covenant into law, enhancing support and protection for our frontline police officers. The initial focus of the covenant will be on physical protection, health and wellbeing, as well as support for families. It will also create a statutory duty for the Government to do more to support the police, both those currently serving and retired (Home Office, News Story, 8 September 2020, link).
• Equipping over 8,000 more officers with Taser devices, ensuring they have the resources they need to keep themselves safe. We have delivered £6.7 million for 41 forces to purchase 8,155 Taser devices, and allocated £150,000 to train up Taser instructors. We have also approved a new Taser 7 model for use, which is more accurate, faster and compact (Home Office, News Story, 24 August 2020, link).
• Dismantling county lines gangs through a £40 million funding boost, keeping our towns and children safe from drug gangs. The £40 million of new money to tackle county lines and drugs supply brings the total invested to £65 million since November 2019. The funding has already seen more than 3,400 people arrested, more than 550 lines closed, more than £9 million street value of drugs and £1.5 million cash seized and more than 770 vulnerable people safeguarded (Home Office, Press Release, 20 January 2021, link).
• Delivering a £45 million Safer Streets Fund to tackle theft, robberies and burglaries in our towns. The money will go towards measures proven to cut crime including locked gates around alleyways, increased street-lighting and the installation of CCTV. This will stop offences that blight communities and cause misery to victims from happening in the first place (Home Office, News Story, 28 January 2021, link).