Sadiq Khan unveiled a hefty £14.5 million investment to combat knife crime across London today (Friday, May 11), marking his first significant move since securing another term at City Hall.
During his campaign for re-election, Khan faced intense scrutiny over his track record on crime, especially as new figures revealed that incidents involving knives and firearms in London had each soared by around 20 per cent in the previous year.
In a bid to sway voters in the eleventh hour, Khan had vowed to funnel £7.8 million into the MyEnds initiative, operated by his Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), allowing the programme to expand its reach from eight to 11 boroughs. The scheme provides after-school activities and youth work to prevent young people from getting caught up in criminal activities.
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Today (Friday, May 11) the mayor declared an additional investment of £6.7 million towards fostering partnerships between local authorities and community organisations. These collaborations aim to address violence at a ‘hyper-local, neighbourhood level’ in the 21 boroughs not encompassed by the MyEnds project.
Khan has reiterated that addressing violence and its intricate root causes remains his ‘top priority’.
Following his victory, he emphasised his commitment to the city’s youth: “I said on my re-election that the next generation of Londoners would be the focus of my third term as mayor, and my first major announcement in my first week is about providing a step change in the support we provide young Londoners who need it the most.
“I have always been clear that we will never be able to arrest our way out of violence, which is driven by poverty, deprivation and lack of opportunity.
“This major City Hall funding boost will help my Violence Reduction Unit expand its MyEnds programme across London and help communities to target interventions through youth work, mentoring and after-school activities, in the neighbourhoods in greatest need of support.”
The Labour mayor’s Tory opponent, Susan Hall, argued during the election that Mr Khan had allowed crime to grow ‘out of control’, pointing out that violent crime was more than 30 per cent higher last year than before he took office in 2016. The mayor said police and youth services have suffered years of under-funding due to Government austerity.
The 11 boroughs now covered by the MyEnds programme, selected due to their levels of violent crime, are: Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets.
VRU director Lib Peck said violence in London is ‘often concentrated in neighbourhoods and small pockets of roads, in areas of greatest deprivation and poverty’.
She added: “MyEnds puts communities at the heart of solutions to tackling violence and providing opportunity for local people. The mayor’s funding will help us not only invest in new networks in key neighbourhoods affected by violence but will also allow us to take and expand our community-led approach to every borough in the city.”
