Lewisham’s mayor and cabinet have rubber stamped a new approach to tackling serious violence, which includes setting up a violence reduction board and launching reviews into homicides and serious violence.

The public health approach to serious violence will also see councillors and staff consulting the community to create a strategy.

Cabinet member for community safety, Joani Reid, said the approach was preventative.

She said: “A public health approach to reducing violence recognises that this violence can indeed be prevented using a whole systems, whole community approach and there is a lot of evidence that this is an effective approach  – not least from my home town of Glasgow.”

It is proposed the Lewisham Violence Board will be made up of six to 10 councillors and senior council officers, the cabinet members for safer communities, children’s services, and health and adult social care.

These are Cllr Joani Reid, Cllr Chris Barnham and Cllr Christ Best.

Cllr Reid said it was a “huge challenge” to pinpoint the drivers of violence.

“But we do know that individuals involved either as victims or perpetrators of violent crime often face huge adversity in a complexity which requires a multi layered response,” she said.

“And they often face poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence in the home, mental health problems and of course adverse childhood experiences which we’ve heard so much about in the media over the last few months.

“The challenge that we face here in Lewisham, which Glasgow did not face, is that the very services which the people  I have described rely on, have been demolished by an  austerity programme led by our government.

“However in Lewisham we are absolutely determined to do all we can despite the lack of support from central government.

“One thing we can learn from Glasgow is that we need to be community and multi agency led,” she added.

The Lewisham Violence Board will meet for the first time in June.