Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, has welcomed an extra £1.16 million for Thames Valley Police’s special Violence Reduction Unit.
The extra funding will help tackle serious violence and prevent young people in Milton Keynes being drawn into it and follows £2.32 million into the scheme over the last few years.
Violence Reduction Units bring together organisations across local communities to tackle violent crime and address its underlying causes, as well as also funding vital local projects doing positive preventative work with children and young people.
The allocation brings the total funding targeted at violent crime up to £105 million by this Conservative Government.
In their first year of activity, initiatives funded by the scheme supported more than 100,000 young people, more than 51,000 of whom were identified as potentially high-risk of being involved in criminal and violent activity.
They also helped bring police, education leaders, health workers and local government together to share information about the causes of violence and agree a co-ordinated plan of action to tackle it, which is crucial to preventing crime at a local level. Today’s funding means that they can continue this vital work.
In addition to this funding, more than £2 million is being made available via a winter contingency fund package. This money is being delivered through VRUs to local charities and social enterprises that support vulnerable young people at risk of involvement in violence through the lockdown period.
The money forms part of a wider government drive to tackle crime and make communities safer, which includes bringing in 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years, 6,620 of which have already been recruited.
Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, said: “This is excellent news for Milton Keynes and the wider Thames Valley area.
“Violent crime has robbed too many young people of their futures and we are backing our police with funding, power and resources to keep the public and communities safe.”
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, added: “Violence Reduction Units play a vital role in preventing young people from being dragged into the horrors of serious violence, and this funding will enable them to continue this crucial work.
“I will continue to back our police with the resources and powers they need to cut crime and make your community safer.”
