The Serious Violence Duty

In December 2022, the Serious Violence Duty was released, providing statutory guidance for responsible authorities on ‘Preventing and reducing serious violence. It outlines changes to section 6 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, ensuring preventing and reducing serious violence is a priority for Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) and in Pennine, we have our successful Pennine Lancashire Community Safety Partnership.

The duty requires –

• Specified authorities to work together
• Plan to prevent & reduce serious violence
  • Identify the kinds of serious violence
  • The causes of that violence
• Prepare/implement a strategy for preventing and reducing serious violence

Violence Reduction Network

The work of the Lancashire Violence Reduction Network has put Lancashire in a strong place to meet its commitments under the Serious Violence Duty.  Lancashire received one of the highest judgements for preparedness for the Duty. Partners now need to work on the operational embedding of the duty and it has been agreed that the responsibility of the Serious Violence Duty sits with local Community Safety Partnerships in Lancashire, supported by the Violence Reduction Network and Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.  A new Lancashire Serious Violence and Community Safety Board has been established to provide governance.

The Lancashire Violence Reduction Network (LVRN) Serious Violence Strategy 2020-2025 LVRN-Strategy-Revised-May-23.pdf (lancsvrn.co.uk) covers all areas of Lancashire and is evidence-led, supported by key findings from the Lancashire Serious Violence Strategic Needs Assessment (SNA) process. The Lancashire SNA was released in February 2024 and the District Needs Assessment in April 2024. The DNA/SNA’s include the risk factors for serious violence. In conjunction with local analysis of serious crime and risk factors, the needs assessment has enabled our partnership to identify universal and targeted actions most suitable for our communities.

The LVRN highlights four priority areas:

• Prevention of serious violence
• Enforcement
• Cultural transformation and workforce development
• Evidence: data and evaluation

Pennine Lancashire Community Safety Partnership approach

In 2023, the PLCSP developed a Pennine Serious Violence Board to support and oversee the local delivery of the priorities of the Serious Violence Duty. The board includes the specified authorities but has developed further to include our wider partners, including Pendle Borough Council as an associate partner. Our collaborative approach enables us to understand local issues and the types of serious violence affecting our communities.

The Serious Violence Board has asked for all members to contribute to this delivery plan so we have a reflection of the strong multi-agency partnership work across Pennine. The plan evidences local delivery against our identified local priorities and existing frameworks, crossing over with the Pennine Lancashire Community Safety Organisational Plan 2024.

This plan has been developed to provide a framework that will aid the delivery of preventative work around the causes of serious violence and the achievement of intended outcomes to reduce the risks. The plan will be reviewed annually and shared with each of our district CSPs, the Pennine Lancashire Community Safety Steering Group, Lancashire Violence Reduction Network and the Lancashire Serious Violence and Community Safety Board.