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These last few weeks have been interesting and heartening ones in many ways for those who seek to empower the future of young people. The new approach of many of our departments of state offers hope that, given time and genuine commitment, we can give our children and young people the chances they deserve, and reduce the worst effects of the folly and damage wrought on so many young lives. If policy is now translated into action then the encouraging trends in youth violence illustrated by the NHS statistics in this issue will continue to show a reducing curve.
It is unarguable that the reduction of youth services in the years between 2010 and 2020 is largely responsible for the loss of hope that many people have experienced. This was acknowledged by Lisa Nandy MP, in her department’s recent policy paper Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy published on 10th December 2025. (see www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-matters-your-national-youth-strategy/youth-matters-your-national-youth-strategy)
Despite the current economic climate and the challenges that face the government, there has been a real recognition that it is the responsibility of government working with communities to change and improve the lives of those who will make our future.
In the last few weeks alone we have added a series of very recent reports to our Research section (see www.fightingknifecrime.london/resources). The reports emanating from the Home Office, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and charities like the Youth Endowment Fund, really stand out.
On the 30th December the Home Office announced some of its stand-out successes, which the police the NHS and so many others can also take the credit for. This only serves to underscore the recommendations that are made in this issue of our magazine that targeted interventions are those that make the difference. This edition hopes to sharpen the aim.
Lives Saved as Knife Robberies Fall and County Lines Gangs Dismantled
• Knife-point robberies down by 15% in worst-affected areas, reversing previous increases.
• County Lines programme sees more than 3,000 lines closed, 8,000 arrests, and 600 vulnerable young people supported by specialist services.
• Year of action sees almost 20% drop in knife homicides and almost 60,000 knives taken off the streets
Knife crime is falling and communities are safer thanks to a year of decisive action by the Home Office and the police.
New statistics show that in the worst affected areas, knife-point robberies are down 15% since June last year, following targeted action from the government. This compares to a 14% rise in 2024.
In real-life terms this means almost 2,500 fewer people experienced the fear of being robbed under the threat of a knife.
At the same time, a government programme set up to take down County Lines - drug smuggling networks that cross regions and often involve the exploitation of children - has led to more than 8,000 arrests, more than 3,000 lines closed and more than 900 knives taken off the streets.
This also saw more than 4,000 exploited children and vulnerable people given support to turn them away from criminally exploitative County Lines gangs and over 600 young people supported by specialist services. There was a 25% drop in hospital admissions for knife stabbings in the areas where large quantities of Class A drugs originate from.
So, it seems apt that we look in this Issue at ways in which we can all improve the work being done – to help translate undertakings into action. This research highlights the targeted solutions and where we can find much of the evidence to support this government’s ambition.
Our 18th Edition
This issue, written by young people, represents a new approach for Fighting Knife Crime London (FKCL).
This month FKCL has given over its magazine to research we have invited from students, supervised by academic staff at Sheffield Hallam University. Teri-Lisa Griffiths, the University’s lead on this project explains their approach in this edition. Much of it is not new, but research from multiple sources can be drawn together to make a particular case. Those who have contributed are drawn from several relevant disciplines. Every factual assertion made is sourced to a live link, giving one-click access to the original sources should this be required by those who wish to understand more. They do not just look at London but teach us lessons from the regions, including Scotland.
Part of the case these students make is a plea for the abandonment of short-term approaches to the reduction of youth violence, and the advance of public welfare and safety. They draw attention to the evidence that has been too long ignored, and demonstrates that well-targeted prevention, reducing wasteful expenditure, and drawing on the best evidence and investing in best practice, can realise the change so long-held just beyond our reach.
This edition is divided into four broad themes, each with a series of research essays written by these young students. Each has lessons to teach us all. They are described as follows:
• The Impact of Deprivation
• The Impact of Policy and Legislation
• The Impact of Society
• The Impact of Youth Programmes
The London Violence Reduction Unit's Strategic Needs Assessment, published earlier this year, estimated that violence affecting children and young people in London cost a total of £1.2 billion per year. Like us they recognise that whilst resources are tight, investment in our young people remains central, both personal and financial. We have used our pages to highlight the tragic impact on families and communities. The toll this takes tells us every day that, hard though it unquestionably is, so much more needs to be done, not in the next 5 or 10 years, but today, tomorrow and the next day.
Now in the 21st century, and at a time when artificial intelligence brings us the hope of yet another industrial and technological revolution, the current social landscape still reveals a picture of long-standing systemic and intergenerational trauma. The London VRU, as we do, recognise that this ‘necessitates trauma-informed, public health orientated responses’.
So, we encourage readers to look at the VRU’s newly published roadmap, and the solutions it offers, https://ti.london.gov.uk/roadmap/. This reveals that the cost of serious violence in London is £3.3 million every day. In London, there are signs that trauma-informed practice is already making a real difference, with services across sectors working in relational and restorative ways that strengthen outcomes for young people, families and communities. Read recent reports too from the Youth Endowment Fund and you will see how serious the plight of our young people has become. As ever FKCL continues to post the most important new research papers on www.fightingknifecrime.london/resources.
At the same time, FKCL’s own studies across the spectrum of service available to young people in London and nationally, still show that well-meaning approaches too often still develop in silos, making it difficult to build shared learning or measure impact consistently. Many groups can become unconsciously invested in the idea that they have the answer. We must never allow that mindset to take root. We can always do better and be more imaginative. It seemed to us that the difficulty in driving effective policy change has for far too long been rooted in poor priorities, and a failure to examine the evidence that for comparatively small investment (in critical areas) huge savings and social benefits may follow.
This historic lack of policy-driven ambition and poor priorities (and we detect this is really changing) has meant that the next generation of nation-builders have been too long ignored, our children and the potential they may possess have been forgotten, and their right to a future filled with hope has been disrespected.
While there are real grounds for hope in the recent reduction of youth violence and homicides, we are still failing to push the boundaries of the possible, by failing to recognise and act upon what the research has long been telling us. The ability we now have to chart, with considerable accuracy, the critical areas in our streets, our boroughs, towns, and cities where poverty and specific crimes and acts violence go hand-in-hand, allows us to point directly to the areas we should concentrate resources. This alone makes the case for acting now and not delaying further until it costs twice as much in lost lives and hope.
People will complain that our welfare bill is large. Just so, and never more so than in the specific communities we can now so easily map. It is here we can use imagination to start to reduce that cost. Prevention, better health and security, and future hope are there for those that dare to live that hope today, rather than waiting for an elusive improved tomorrow that may not come.
The most startling aspect of Sheffield Hallam’s research has been the evidence that clearly establishes that prevention and change is possible provided that good hearts, sound morality, and a more intelligent approach to the use of scant financial resources combine. Our present labour government is showing evidence of serious intent, and we have always supported them in this. The one thing that seems lacking is their ability to act on specific and some very well-argued recommendations. We owe it to our children to make these investments because one day someone is going to have to do this when the desired results may no longer be possible at all. It is already hard to forgive those that withdrew funding from youth services in the early part of this century. It will be even more unforgivable if we fail to act on the clear evidence that violence is preventable.
Well-meaning choices made with the intention of reducing violence have not always been sensible, and sometimes the obvious gets ignored. One striking example was brought home to me recently at the Reducing Knife Harm conference at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in November. The Home Office was represented, and their representatives were clearly listening. The Safer Knives Group (read more about them here) working with Leeds University and Lets Be Blunt demonstrated the fact that 52.3% of homicides are caused by kitchen knives with sharp points. Only 3.6% of these are caused by zombie knives. Whilst it is important to remove zombie knives and similarly frightening weapons that have attracted the attention of young people disproportionately, a ban or licensing of pointed kitchen knives for professional use, could have already brought about a revolutionary reduction in the homicide rate. Accidental injuries, sometimes fatal punctures of the femoral artery (ask any senior trauma surgeon), caused to young people who carry these kitchen unprotected knives as well as sudden violent and impulsive actions in the home which result in one partner being killed are caused by kitchen knives. Such deaths could be dramatically reduced. A point may occasionally be handy, but also quite fatal.
So, I urge you to read what these amazing young people have learnt, and carefully evidenced in their articles. Please write to your Member of Parliament and urge them to support the government and argue for the necessary adjustment in priorities based on the evidence you will find here. What you read makes the case for targeted investment now. This case is unanswerable. A failure to act means – well - quite simply people will die.
If you find this research of value, and to further encourage the young people who have done this work please write to me at bruce.houlder@fightingknifecrime.london, and I will see that they hear what you have had to say. Doing this research has made a mark on them, and if it has made you think as well, we would like to hear from you. If you want to join in the change, then write to your MP and send the weblink to this edition of our magazine.
Bruce Houlder, Founder of Fighting Knife Crime London (FKCL)
www.fightingknifecrime.london
