The London borough of Hounslow has seen a dramatic wave of reform in an attempt to combat the increase in knife crime during the first months of 2019. At a time when London has seen an increase of over 150% in instances of knife crime since 2014, these measures are central to the national effort for reducing the overall increase in violent crime.

For example, the ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign, which is designed to allow young people decide what should be discussed on the green benches of the House of Commons, attracted a record-breaking 14,283 votes from young people in Hounslow in 2018. Ciya Vyas’ ‘Put an End to Knife Crime’ campaign topped the ballot both in Hounslow itself and nationally, revealing the significance of the issue among young people.

As a result, Hounslow has welcomed an influx of £15 million to tackle knife crime, which will be spent on measures to lower the number of knives that young people carry by funding items such as knife wands. Similarly, the council has also received 10 additional police officers and the increased funding will only allow the Hounslow police force to grow further. This is particularly vital as Cressida Dick, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, recently stated that ‘there is some link between the increase in violent crime on the streets, obviously, and police numbers.’ The success of these reforms has already become distinctly apparent as 11 individuals who were identified as regularly carrying knives have been brought to justice so far.

Moreover, the reforms are not only limited to efforts which are designed to increase the number of police officers. There has also been a shift towards dealing with the issue at source by preventing young people from resorting to such practices much earlier on. Therefore, the youth service initiative has been emphasised in Hounslow as a new youth programme has been commissioned to Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trusts, which began 2nd January 2019. Youth services include youth workers and youth clubs which provide a support network and an infrastructure for young people so that they feel included and valued within society. This is particularly essential as the World Health Organisation and the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies have revealed that violence is symptomatic of feelings of social exclusion and inequality. The effort in Hounslow will be focused on encouraging support to young carers, holiday youth provision, detached youth work activity and universal youth service activity. Lee Doyle, the chief executive of Brentford FC Community Sports Trust explained that the aim is ‘to increase opportunity and promote cohesion’, which would inevitably lead to a decrease in violence. Furthermore, the council will continue to offer the Hounslow Youth Counselling Service to provide help to those who are most vulnerable.

However, the improvements have not spread nationwide as the YMCA found that overall spending on youth services in England has fallen by £737 million, which equates to 62% since 2010. On top of this, it is not compulsory for local authorities to provide youth centres and, given that London councils will see cuts of 36% in funding under the Conservative regime, these services are the first to be compromised. For example, between 2010 and 2016, 600 youth centres closed and, in many cases, the support is not completely taken away but it is made only accessible to the most vulnerable.

Similarly, over the past decade, the Metropolitan Police has been plagued by chronic underfunding as government cuts have meant that the force has had to make savings of £700 million since 2010. As a result, the number of police officers has been reduced in order to accommodate for this lack of funding. The figures have reached a record low of 3.3 policemen per thousand Londoners, in comparison to the figure of 4.4 per thousand in 2010. To make matters worse, the future does not appear bright as further cuts of £325 million are scheduled by 2021. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has anticipated that numbers of police officers ‘will drop to 2002 levels’ unless funding increases dramatically. The Mayor’s office for police and crime (MOPAC) has predicted that the number of police officers will fall from 29,700 to 26,800 by 2022.

Therefore, it is unsurprising that the number of recorded knife crimes in London has increased from 9,691 in 2014 to 14,769 in 2018, given the importance of youth services and a large police presence in preventing such crimes. However, the progress that has been made in Hounslow is an exception to the rule and this is exceedingly promising as we can anticipate that the success it represents will prompt other boroughs to emulate its efforts.