Burnley MP welcomes action plan on knife crime

Lancashire Constabulary have been awarded almost £3m in total with £1.82m from the Knife Crime Fund and £1.16m for the setting up of a Violence Reduction Unit.

The funding was subject to a detailed Knife Crime Action Plan from the Police and Crimes Commissioner which has now been approved by the Home Office.

Mrs Cooper said “I was pleased to hear that Lancashire Constabulary have received additional funding to tackle the growing problem of knife crime.”

“Knife crime is a scourge on our communities and I fully support the police in their efforts to clampdown on the causes and perpetrators. It is with my hope that Lancashire Police will use this money to reduce violent crime in this region and save lives in Burnley and Padiham.”

The increased funding comes after knife offences in the region increased by 33% since 2013-14 making Lancashire one of the highest regions for knife crime in the UK.

The VRU will work alongside existing multi-agency arrangements including the proposed pan Lancashire Safeguarding Partnership, community safety partnerships, health and wellbeing boards, reducing re-offending boards as well as the Health ICS for Lancashire.

Mrs Cooper added: “This money will go some of the way to plugging the hole in police finances left by years of Conservative and Lib Dem governments. I hope the government has now seen the damage these cuts have done and will increase funding to tackle knife crimes in the years ahead.”