Govt 'must improve' on violent crime

The government's approach to reducing violent crime is inconsistent, the National Audit Office (NAO) says.

A report published today says the effectiveness of efforts to reduce violent crime has been hindered by inconsistent delivery of funding, little analysis capacity at the local level and poor data-sharing between local agencies.

With the number of 15- to 17-year-olds convicted of carrying a blade doubling between 1998 and 2005 it is hardly surprising 17 per cent of members of the public say they worry about being a victim of violent crime, the report says.

"Violent crime is an issue everyone will have read about and it is something which a fifth of the adult population have said they worry about," NAO head Tim Burr commented.

"The rise of gun and knife crime is something that will deeply concern every community and the impacts of this sort of criminal activity can devastate individuals and destabilise communities."

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said the government's long-term tackling violence action plan, introduced earlier this week, would go far to reduce "all serious violence" over the next three years.

But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Chris Huhne criticised the plan as a "headline-grabbing gimmick" and said the government should have done more to solve the problem in its ten years in power.

Although pointing out serious violent crime only accounts for one per cent of all crime Mr Coaker acknowledged its importance because it "devastates lives".

"The challenge ahead is to ensure that the good practice we have developed is applied as widely as possible and we are committed to taking this forward. We will respond fully to the report as necessary in due course," he said.

Overall violent crime has fallen by nine per cent since 2002/03, a decline slower than the overall crime rates in the UK.