In April 2022, Cleveland’s OPCC was notified of its successful application for Violence Reduction Unit (VRU)
Funding from the Home Office over three years allowed the OPCC to create Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV),
CURV brings together partners and stakeholders to develop and deliver an intelligence- led strategy. It aims to reduce serious violence throughout Cleveland via a Public Health agenda.
In 2022, the Serious Violence Duty was introduced through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.
The duty requires specified authorities to work together to plan, prevent and reduce serious violence within the local government area.
As part of this work, CURV commissioned Crest Advisory to undertake a Strategic Needs Assessment (SNA.) The SNA outlined the scale, nature, and drivers of serious violence in Cleveland.
It identified that rates of serious violence offending are highest on the weekend, particularly in the evening and early morning. This potentially aligns with peaks in the night time economy (NTE) and certain geographical zones.
In order to understand this further, CURV commissioned a bespoke NTE Problem Profile.
The profile provided more in-depth understanding of the causes and drivers of serious violence within the NTE.
This allowed the development of an NTE Action Plan, which focused on reducing incidents of serious violence within and around NTE zones.
Work was approved after consultation with key NTE stakeholders. They attended a series of workshops and forums delivered by CURV during late 2023 and were in line with the NTE Action Plan. Funding, totalling £630.00, will enable the following:
Teesside University (£255.00)
CURV will match-fund a bleed cabinet to be placed at the centre of Teesside University Campus.
This will be open to wider community use – particularly those using or working within the NTE.
Professional Witness Service (Safer Communities) (£375.00)
CURV previously funded Ask for Angela campaigns and training for licensed premise staff.
This was provided alongside safeguarding training, anti-spiking resources and drink testing strips.
In order to evaluate the response of licensed premises and the use of these resources, CURV will commission the Professional Witness Service to carry out intelligence-led work in the NTE. This is a pilot before it is expanded to other areas. CURV is now exploring the idea of a news piece on this.
DRF 2024-25 -017 – SVD and CURV Funding — Night-Time Economy (NTE) (application, 877kB)