Executive Summary
In April 2022, Cleveland’s OPCC was notified of its successful application for Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) Funding from the Home Office over 3 years. This resulted in the establishment of the ‘Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence’ (CURV), which was tasked with the role of bringing together all partners and stakeholders to develop and deliver an intelligence led strategy aimed at reducing serious violence throughout Cleveland through a Public Health agenda.
In 2022, the Serious Violence Duty was introduced through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act; this requires specified authorities to work together to plan to 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 outlining the scale, nature, and drivers of serious violence in Cleveland.The rates of serious violence offending are highest on the weekend, particularly in the evening and early morning, potentially aligning with peaks in the night-time economy and geographical zones. In response, the Cleveland strategy is focused on reducing incidents of serious violence within and around those night-time economy zones. The interventions funded through the Serious Violence Duty are based on thorough consultation with key NTE stakeholders, who have attended a series of workshops and forums facilitated and delivered by CURV during late 2023. The below interventions have all been agreed with key partners.
The funding
Middlesbrough Borough Council are to be awarded £11,780.00 to support the reduction of serious violence in the defined NTE area. This includes:
- Bleed Cabinets – to be installed within the NTE boundaries, providing public access to medical supplies to control bleeding in an emergency situation.
- APEX Radios – to support communication between licensed premises during NTE times.
Stockton Borough Council are to be awarded £17,129.00 to support the reduction of serious violence in the defined NTE area. This includes:
- Scannet – access control machines to be installed in licensed premises to prevent entry to underage clients, clients with fake ID’s and those known for creating issues inside licensed venues. The machines are linked with Pubwatch to ensure effective information sharing and barring of problematic individuals throughout the Night-Time Economy Zone.
- Bleed Cabinets – to be installed within the NTE boundaries, providing public access to medical supplies to control bleeding in an emergency situation.
- APEX Radios -to support communication between licensed premises during NTE times.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council are to be awarded £14,899.00 to support the reduction of serious violence in the defined NTE area. This includes:
- APEX Radios -to support communication between licensed premises during NTE times.
- Scannet – access control machines to be installed in licensed premises to prevent entry to underage clients, clients with fake ID’s and those known for creating issues inside licensed venues. The machines are linked with Pubwatch to ensure effective information sharing and barring of problematic individuals throughout the Night-Time Economy Zone.
Hartlepool Borough Council are to be awarded £12,580.00 to support the reduction of serious violence in the defined NTE area. This includes:
- Bleed Cabinets and Installation – to be installed within the NTE boundaries, providing public access to medical supplies to control bleeding in an emergency situation.
- APEX Radios -to support communication between licensed premises during NTE times.
Decision 2023/24 – 0029: Serious Violence Duty Funding (application, 214kB)