Link between violent crime and austerity is clear for everyone to see - Alison Lowe

Legislation amounts to only part of the solution. What really counts are those vital services, instrumental to changing behaviours on the ground. We may look at one another in disbelief at the attitudes and cultures around knife crime, however, this is not something which has just developed overnight. It is the product of sustained cuts to public services and those organisations which rely so heavily on local funding.

Scratching the surface, it is not hard to identify the source. Over a decade of austerity and spending reviews have left cavernous holes across the fundamental services that help our young people and their families.

It has increased the pressure on police officers, teachers, case workers and our third sector colleagues, who are each expected to somehow plug the gaps.

We are doing everything we can locally to manage the vacuum left behind, providing a financial lifeline to many.

Our Violence Reduction Unit, which is hosted by the Mayor of West Yorkshire, has made incredible strides in preventing serious violence and producing ground-breaking research. During 2022/23, the unit funded interventions, working with 46 local organisations, supporting over 14,000 young people under the age of 25.

The fact that we have been recognised as having one the most mature partnership networks in the country is true testament to how far we have come.

When our Mayor, Tracy Brabin, took office, she also made it her pledge to increase the number of police officers and staff by 750, which she is on course to achieve.

Likewise, she established the Mayor’s Safer Communities Fund, directing thousands of pounds recovered from criminals into our local community groups, which address these very issues. It cannot be the case, however, that West Yorkshire is continuously left footing the bill for what should already be provided. We now reside in a state of ‘perma-crisis’ whether that be around Covid, energy bills, cost of living, mortgages, or our climate.

Coupled with underinvestment in the North, abandoned transport links and a general lack of parity, it is all exacerbating issues of deprivation across our communities. There are clear links between poverty and serious violence and until there is a sustainable long-term national strategy to better support our grass-root services and understand the wider implications, little will change.

We can no longer be the Government’s safety net, but one thing is certain, if we don't work together, we will collectively fail our future generations, and all reap the fatal repercussions.

Alison Lowe OBE is West Yorkshire’s deputy mayor for Policing and Crime.