The Humber Violence Prevention Partnership (VPP) has secured a total of £1,058,313 from the Home Office to continue its work to prevent serious violence across Hull, Northern Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire.
The VPP is one of 20 Violence Reduction Units across England and Wales bringing local partners together to tackle the causes of serious violence. In our area the partnership has funded over 30 projects including targeted youth interventions, outreach, sports and creative activities, in addition to providing training to raise awareness and increase skills of organisations who work with young people.
The funding in our area is part of a £55m national investment by the Home Office which also includes extra funding for police forces to focus resources on specific locations where violence is prevalent, including mounting extra patrols and changing infrastructure to make areas safer.
The announcement comes as new analysis by the VPP, released today, showed the cost of serious violence to the local area. In 2021/22, it is estimated that Violent Crime cost the Humber region around £160m or £4,372 per each recorded offence.1 This includes the costs of policing and criminal justice including offender management, Courts, operational policing, custody, and victim support services. Healthcare costs including hospital admissions, ambulance, medical treatments, and counselling are also included.
The estimated £160m also includes around £33m of ‘Lost Output’ to the local economy, which aims to measure the indirect cost of violent crime, or what might have happened if the violent crime had not taken place. It includes the costs of time off work and reduced productivity among its measures.
Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison, who chairs the VPP Board, said: “Since its inception in 2022 the Humber Violence Prevention Partnership has made a strong start by investing in local organisations who work with young people to steer them away from committing violent crime, as well as all agencies working together to understand the root causes that lead to people committing violence. The cost to society and our local economy caused by serious violence is huge. We must engage with our young people especially, to steer them away from ever committing violence in the first place if we are to build a safer future for everyone.
“I’m very pleased that this funding from the Home Office will enable our Partnership to continue to deliver this vital work.”