Enfield still has the seventh-worst rate in London, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter
Councillors have welcomed a “significant” fall in Enfield’s serious youth violence rate amid signs of success in tackling the borough’s long-running problem.
A 12% year-on-year fall in the number of serious youth violence victims means the borough now has the seventh-highest rate in London, according to a report, having previously recorded the highest number of victims in the year to January this year.
Serious youth violence means any assault involving a weapon where the victim is aged between ten and 19 years. A report presented to Enfield Council’s crime scrutiny panel on Wednesday reveals the number of victims in Enfield fell from 333 to 293 in the year to the end of September.
The majority of serious youth violence offences are in the east of the borough, although Southgate also has a high rate.
Ivana Price, the council’s head of early help, youth and community safety, told the meeting that the borough had seen high levels of serious youth violence “for some time”, but the report suggested there were “green shoots of hope”. She added: “This is a significant drop for us, and it is really suggesting a positive trajectory.”
Ivana said there was a “whole plethora” of intervention work being done to address the factors that increase the risk of young people becoming offenders, including in schools, early help services and children’s social care.
Andrea Clemons, the council’s head of community safety, said Enfield was one of only six boroughs witnessing a reduction in serious youth violence. She explained that there had been a “concerted effort” to tackle the problem, with “lots of extra police officers” deployed to the borough during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although councillors welcomed the reduction, they also raised concerns over figures in the report showing that black young men are overrepresented within youth justice services and are eight times more likely to receive a custodial sentence than white young men.
Responding to the concerns, which were initially raised by Conservative panel chair Mike Rye, Ivana said the council and its partners were working on a “disproportionality action plan” to help reduce the inequalities and disadvantages faced by black young men.
Other initiatives being undertaken include a “detailed needs analysis” to uncover some of the issues faced by black young men entering the criminal justice system and a project to put youth workers in Wood Green Custody Centre to offer mentoring and support. There are also plans to increase diversity in the youth justice system, Ivana added.
Labour councillor Kate Anolue spoke about the need to address the social inequalities and institutional racism faced by young black men, including difficulties in accessing employment and gaining promotions. She told the meeting: “If you ask me, ‘is it going to get better?’ I don’t see why it is going to get better until the black race are treated exactly the same.”
Panel members also suggested carrying out more work with the voluntary sector to support young people and using some space at the Meridian Water regeneration zone for community services.
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