Nottinghamshire Police has been provisionally granted £880,000 from the Home Office to fund a specialist unit to help prevent serious violence, it can be revealed.
The county’s Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping announced today that the force had been successful in applying for a slice of the government’s £35m Serious Violence Fund which is funding the development of Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in key locations across the country.
VRUs will lead on and coordinate the local response to serious violence, bringing together a host of agencies including health, education and social services to prevent children and young people being drawn into crime and violence in the first place.
They will form part of a new Public Health approach to combating serious violence, addressing the multitude of social, economic and cultural issues which increase the risk of violent behaviour.
Mr Tipping said: “This is very encouraging news and shows the Home Office has faith in the way we are responding to the serious issue of violence in Nottinghamshire. We will now work with partners including the County Council, the City Council and health colleagues to submit formal plans to the Home Office detailing how it intends to develop the VRU before receiving the grant to launch the project.
“To have a lasting impact on safety, we must confront the real reasons why children and young people are turning to violence and change perspectives before they have the chance of ruining lives. Nottinghamshire now has an opportunity to pull together a range of experts from different backgrounds to lead on this issue and make a difference to the futures of young people in this county.”
The Home Office, which announced the new Serious Violence Fund in April, has worked closely with a range of partners including the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) in developing policy proposals to support the award of VRU funding.
Nottinghamshire’s £880,000 represents one year of funding which must be applied in the 2019-20 year. The allocation has been calculated to reflect levels of serious violence in the area based on hospital admissions for sharp object assaults.
Ends
