Committee announces new inquiry on Gangs and youth crime

The inquiry will consider:

• Whether the 2011 Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme has been effective and whether it has been implemented adequately?
• The effectiveness of current law enforcement and legislation, including gang injunctions, knife and gun crime legislation?
• How reliable is statistical data concerning gang-related offences and "hotspots"?
• Whether policies such as stop and search reduce trust between the police and young people? How can they be improved?
• How can early intervention reduce or prevent gang membership?
• What examples of best practice are there in agencies responsible for ending gang violence, and what have been the results?
• How can the negative public health aspects of gangs and crime be ameliorated?
• What action should be taken to combat the involvement of girls in gangs?
• What action should be taken to protect children and young people from gang-related sexual violence and exploitation?

The Committee would welcome views on these and any other matters that may be relevant to the inquiry.

Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

“It is vital that we reduce gang-related crime and stop young people becoming involved in violence. In this inquiry, we will evaluate the first year of the Government’s Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme and consider what more needs to be done to make young people feel safer.”

Submitting written evidence

As part of a scheme to encourage paperless working and maximise efficiency, the Committee now utilises a web portal for the submission of written evidence. Written submissions for this inquiry should therefore be sent online via this web page: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/gangs-and-youth-crime/.
 
The Committee invites written submissions on these issues by midday on Wednesday 14 May 2014.

Each submission should:
a) be no more than 3,000 words in length
b) be in Word format with as little use of colour or logos as possible
c) have numbered paragraphs
d) include a declaration of interests.

Please note that:

• Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a proposed memorandum, in which case a hard copy of the published work should be included.
• Memoranda submitted must be kept confidential until published by the Committee, unless publication by the person or organisation submitting it is specifically authorised.
• Once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written evidence it receives, by publishing it on the internet (where it will be searchable), by printing it or by making it available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.
• Select Committees are unable to investigate individual cases.

The remit of the Home Affairs Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Home Office and its associated public bodies.