The Government has said that it is committed to ending serious youth violence in this country. We will therefore aim to disseminate information about the Government’s activities in this area such as reports, commissions, funding etc.
Youth Justice overhaul
Children and young people will get earlier support to steer them away from crime under a major overhaul of the youth justice system unveiled by the UK Government on Monday 18 May 2026.
Also included in the new Youth Justice White Paper:
- Parents and carers to face tougher accountability when children offend.
- New youth intervention courts to tackle repeat offenders.
Full details are available on gov.uk.
Police more likely to strip search and use force against Black children
Research published by the Children’s Commissioner shows that Black children are almost eight times more likely to be strip searched by Police than White children, and around five times more likely than Asian children. Black children are also five times more likely to have force used against them by police officers than their White peers.
Please see the Children’s Commissioners’ website for full details.
Record year for gang busts and knife seizures
Figures show a record year for county lines enforcement with more gang leaders charged and knives seized than ever before, backed by £34 million in new funding.
Please see gov.uk.
Knife homicides collapse by 27% after 63,000 knives taken off our streets since the election
More than 63,000 knives and weapons have been taken off our streets under this government.
Over the same period, knife homicides have fallen by 27%, with knife-point robberies and hospital admissions for stabbings down by 10% and 11% respectively.
For more details please see gov.uk.
Surge in neighbourhood police in communities fighting crime
Government meets target to put over 3,000 additional neighbourhood police into roles 2 months early.
Please see gov.uk.
Schools in high knife crime hotspots to get targeted support to divert children away from crime
Up to 250 schools in high knife crime hotspots will receive specialist training and support to divert children from serious violence.
More details on gov.uk.
Every child caught with a knife to get tailored support
Every child caught carrying a knife in England and Wales will be given a mandatory targeted plan to stop them reoffending and protect the public.
Full details on gov.uk.
Government leads global fight against deepfake threats
Government collaborates with Microsoft and other world leading technology companies to create a framework which will identify gaps in deepfake detection.
For more information, see gov.uk.
‘Ronan’s Law’ to see toughest crackdown yet on knife sales online
Retailers will need to report suspicious and bulk purchases of knives on their platforms to police, with tougher sentences for selling knives to under 18s.
Please see our news section for full details.
Nationwide call to surrender all zombie-style knives and machetes
A nationwide call to hand over zombie-style knives and machetes has been launched by the government, before these dangerous weapons are banned from our streets.
Ahead of the new ban coming into force, anyone who has one of these weapons is being urged to hand them over – safely and legally.
This scheme will be run at police stations across England and Wales for four weeks between 26 August and 23 September 2024, without repercussions for surrendering these potentially dangerous knives safely.
The UK Government website has more details on the call to hand over zombie-style knives, plus guidance and details of the compensation scheme.
Commentary
Synergy network welcomes the action that the government has taken as we believe there is no reason for young people (or anyone ) to have these extremely dangerous knives. The amnesty period allows young people who are fearful of being attacked, and therefore carry a weapon for protection, to discard it before they are pulled over in any stop and search routine. Synergy Network continues to engage with the government and other agencies to address preventative measures to stop our young people getting into gangs and street life. Synergy Network is now part of the governments roundtable ‘think tank’ that will enable us to engage in policies and debate to address the issue of serious youth violence.
In order to assist in this initiative, we would ask anyone who is aware of any young person carrying a knife to encourage/persuade them to drop their weapon off at any designated amnesty point. Together we can all work to stop the increase of serious knife crime and assaults on our young people.
Synergy Network Coordinator
Labour’s ‘tough love’ youth programme
Labour announced a new ‘tough love’ youth programme to tackle knife crime, youth violence and address the crisis in young people’s mental health, in October 2023.
Labour’s ‘tough love’ youth programme
Criminal Justice Bill: Knife Crime
The Conservative government were in the process of introducing the Criminal Justice bill to deal with Serious Youth Violence (SYV) and knife crime among other things. The information below contains their proposals which they never got to put into action due to the change of government. Synergy Network waits patiently to see what the Labour government will introduce as regards to their proposals to address the increase in knife crime and SYV.
Criminal Justice Bill: Knife crime policy paper
London’s Violence Reduction Unit
London’s Violence Reduction Unit was set up by the Mayor of London in 2019. It is a team of specialists who bring people across London together to better understand why violence happens and to take action to prevent it now, and in the long-term.
London’s Violence Reduction Unit
Serious Violence Reduction Order: Consultation
The Home Office carried out a consultation on Serious Violence Reduction Orders, a new personalised stop and search power designed to target known offenders.
The consultation lasted for eight weeks from Monday 14 September to Sunday 8 November 2020, and can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/serious-violence-reduction-orders
Action For Children Parent Talk hub
Action For Children has new online resources for parents of children aged 0-19. As well as articles covering common issues parents might experience, there’s a confidential 1:1 chat service with experienced parenting staff available.
For more information, visit the Parent Talk website.