27th June 2007 – SCORE Centre

Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone here today as Chair of LSP and Leader of the Council to this important event.

The SCORE Centre where we will spend today is a brilliant example of regeneration, and a positive symbol of leisure, sport and young people in Waltham Forest in our Olympic and Paralympic borough.  

We are here to address youth crime, and its impact on the lives of our residents. We should remember though that the vast majority of young people do not commit crime, and make a positive contribution to our communities. We also know that of those that do, most grow out of crime and go on to lead active and fulfilling lives.

In Waltham Forest we have seen real progress in educational attainment and improvements in the quality of our services to vulnerable children and young people, and the range of social and community activities on offer including youth festivals.  We need to pay tribute to community activists and ward Councillors, Sue Burns and Cllr Terry Wheeler.

Nevertheless, surveys with young people repeatedly tell us that safety is the thing young people most want public services to do something about. They want to feel safer on the way to school, at our transport hubs, and in our parks and open spaces

In 2006, Children Services commissioned a health related behaviour survey which included staying safe - specifically from accidents, bullying and experiences of crime. 1050 young people were involved in the survey. Some key findings were:

  • 48% of secondary aged pupils participating in the survey rated the safety of their area when going out after dark as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor.’
  • 20% reported that they had been victims of violence or aggression in the area where they live, in the last 12 months;
  • 21% reported that they were ‘fairly certain’ or ‘certain’ they had friends or they themselves carried weapons for protection when going out

These figures are unacceptable and the Children and Young People’s Plan and our Crime and Disorder Strategy have a wide range of actions to deal with this. I am committed as Council Leader and Chair of LSP to make sure this happens

We have made real progress on crime over the last 12 months, and I am sure our Borough Commander will provide more information on this when he speaks shortly. However, the tragic incident in April, when a 14-year-old boy lost his life, and another boy was seriously injured, casts a shadow over all of us.

The incident sends a clear message that we have to take clear action to stop access to weapons on our streets, to stop our public spaces being unsafe and support families and neighbourhoods to enable young people to achieve and resist a culture of violence and fear.

I therefore welcome last night’s announcement of £800k to tackle issues around knife culture in London’s schools.

Today I am delighted that we will have the opportunity to hear first hand some of the realities and experiences from young people themselves this morning about violence, gang activity and youth crime, and what authorities can do to deal with this.

The keynote presentation will be from Professor John Pitts. Professor Pitts has an international reputation in this work, he will describe his findings, and his analysis of the problems we face. He has worked in Waltham Forest for a number of months to produce a report on the phenomenon of gangs, what this means, best practice and what we do next to address it.

Waltham Forest is like many other boroughs in London and most urban areas in this country in having an issue about gang activity. But we are tackling this head on, and are determined to do all we can to eradicate it, as it ruins young peoples lives.

A small number of other areas, such as the London Borough of Lambeth through their Exit Project, are beginning to see the benefits of recognising this problem, and doing something about it.

We are keen to learn from these and other good ideas and best practice out there. Please use the board to promote best practice, and the pledge cards on your tables to state one action you will undertake as a result of this event. I will be looking at these and keen to know how you all can make a contribution!

Creating a safe Waltham Forest is critical to young people if they are going to have a positive future in our borough. It is a non-negotiable priority if we are serious about our commitment to create a sustainable community for all, young and old, individuals and families, those who have lived in our borough all their lives, and newly arrived communities.

Our Borough Commander leads our Crime and Disorder Partnership, and I look to him to continue his strong leadership in this work to drive down youth crime, and build upon his successes to date.

However it is not solely his, or the Board’s responsibility.  We all have, not only a responsibility but a duty to engage and contribute to dealing with this issue, with young people themselves able to give us the most input.

Do participate actively, contribute, listen and learn from this event.

Thank you.