Matthew Scott welcomes additional Government funding to tackle causes of serious violence in Kent

Kent is receiving an extra £1.7million from the Government to help tackle serious violence in the county.
 
The Home Office last week provisionally allocated Kent £1,160,000 from its Serious Violence Fund to support more multi-agency preventative work. And today, Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott has been successful in bidding for £527,573 from his Early Intervention Youth Fund.
 
Welcoming the cash boost, Mr Scott said:

‘While Kent has not experienced the same levels of serious violence as inner cities have in recent months, we have our own unique challenges linked to county lines activity operating out of London and other areas.
 
‘This money has the potential to do so much good work in addressing some of the underlying issues in our communities which can later lead to violence.
 
‘I have already been talking to the Chief Constable about how the Serious Violence Fund money could broaden the work of our existing multi-agency task forces into other parts of the county.
 
‘The Early Intervention Youth Fund money announced today allows us to look at diverting more young people at risk of exploitation by county lines gangs away from criminality and abuse; and better supporting young people who come into contact with the police to try and prevent future offending. There is also scope to improve our links with local schools to deliver more effective crime prevention messages.’

The two Home Office grants, worth £1.7million, are on top of an initial £1.7million Kent Police received from the Serious Violence Fund in the spring. That ‘surge funding’ has helped the force to execute early-morning warrants against people suspected of being involved in county lines and other serious criminal activity.
 
Mr Scott added:

‘Furthermore, in the next few weeks I will be announcing the recipients of my own Violence Reduction Fund which is worth another £1million over three years.’