PCCs gain new responsibilities in bid to tackle serious violence
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Deputy Mayors have gained new responsibilities from today, Tuesday 31 January, in a bid to tackle and prevent serious violence in communities.
The Serious Violence Duty is a new legal requirement which will see organisations working together to prevent and tackle serious violence, with PCCs and Deputy Mayors as the local conveners.
The Duty was introduced by the Government through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act 2022 and places a duty on specific organisations such as the police, fire service, justice partners, health and local authorities to collaborate to prevent and tackle serious violence in their local area.
It intends to create the right conditions for authorities to collaborate and communicate regularly, using existing partnerships where possible and to share information and take effective coordinated action in local areas. Under the Duty, all statutory partners must work together to develop a strategic needs assessment of the unique causes of violence in their area and then publish a strategy on how they will tackle it.
Police and Crime Commissioners and Deputy Mayors play an important role in this and will take up responsibilities as the lead convener for local partners. Across England and Wales they will be responsible for monitoring the exercise of functions under the Duty and holding partners to account for their compliance and delivery.
APCC Leads for Serious Violence and Police and Crime Commissioners Simon Foster and Steve Turner said: “We have long advocated for a whole system approach and welcome the introduction of the Serious Violence Duty. As local leaders we play a pivotal role in coordinating this activity and will act as local conveners to ensure a collaborative joined up approach to preventing and tackling serious violence in our communities.
“As Police and Crime Commissioners and Deputy Mayors we are well placed to bring agencies and organisations together, overseeing the totality of work taking place to tackle serious violence, particularly in complex geographical areas, and ensuring that work reflects the unique needs of our local communities.
“We will play a key role locally in managing the funding accompanying the Duty, ensuring all named partners are around the table, and monitoring the exercise of functions under the duty.
“The Duty is a positive step towards collectively reducing serious violence in our communities and we remain committed to helping to coordinate sustainable prevention and early intervention programmes to ensure we prevent people from committing serious crimes and ensure our communities are a safe place for all.”