Serious Violence Duty Strategy

As part of new government guidance, the Council has produced a Serious Violence Duty Strategy, which sets out how the Council will work with its partners will implement the new requirements of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to reduce serious violence in the borough.

The new strategy sets out our partnership arrangements, provides a summary needs assessment, details the work to date in this area and maps our future priorities. We are taking a public health approach to tackling serious violence, which comprises of four domains:

1. Curtail violent acts at source, pursuing perpetrators and enforcing action. 
2. Treat those who have been exposed to violence to control the spread. 
3. Support those susceptible to violence due to their exposure to risk factors. 
4. Strengthen community resilience through a universal approach.

The Duty requires public agencies to work together to prevent and reduce serious violence, which means:

• analysing the kinds of serious violence that occur in the local area.
• identifying the causes of that violence
• preparing and implementing a prevention strategy to reduce serious violence. 

As well as the Council, the Serious Violence Duty applies to the police, fire service, youth offending team, probation service and local health bodies. Educational institutions, prisons and youth custodial institutions are also expected to co-operate and support this strategy.

Serious violence is defined as:

Any violence and exploitation affecting young people under the age of 25, domestic abuse, and sexual violence. Within the context of these types of violence, it encompasses homicide, grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm, rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, personal robbery, threats to kill and violence against property caused during the commission of one of these offences.   

Domestic abuse is as defined in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

In Waltham Forest, there were a total of 2,121 serious violence offences in the 12 months ending June 2023, with 830 of these (39%) involving a victim aged under 25. 

Compared to 15 similar London boroughs, Waltham Forest has a relatively low rate of recorded offences, being 19% lower and 4th lowest in that group. However, we still face serious challenges, particularly around young people and knife crime, which is regularly reported as a top concern for residents. 

In light of the local picture, the Council’s primary goal for the Serious Violence Duty Strategy is to reduce knife and gun crime injuries sustained by those under 25 years of age.

The Council has also identified additional objectives which will support the Serious Violence Duty and are addressed by separate pre-existing strategies. These include:

• Tackling drug-related harm by tackling supply, reducing demand and promoting recovery from drugs. 
• Improving confidence in statutory partners and reducing fear of crime
• Increasing the number of referrals of survivors of domestic abuse to MARAC, when compared to the previous year. Take action to rebuild confidence and trust in statutory partners to remove barriers that restrict survivors from accessing services. 
• Reducing the number incidents of Domestic Abuse which resulted in violence against the person, injury, or homicide. Ensuring systems work to disrupt and tackle perpetrator behaviour; but also provide opportunities for behaviour change.
• Ensuring that there is a clear process and framework for identification and treatment/ interventions of young people and adults that have demonstrated harmful sexual behaviour, and appropriate pathway for active risk management and safeguarding; to protect communities from harmful sexual behaviour. Evidenced through an increase of referrals and orders when compared to the previous 12 months.

Read the Serious Violence Duty Strategy document in full below.