Devon Preventing Serious Violence Strategy published

Devon County Council on behalf of the Safer Devon Partnership have published a strategy to prevent and reduce serious violence in the county.

The Devon Preventing Serious Violence Strategy 2024-29  is now available to view on the Safer Devon website. 

The Strategy outlines Safer Devon’s framework for preventing and reducing serious violence in the county and, through doing so, its ambition to keep people, families and communities safe from the risk and experience of violence.

Local Authorities, including Devon’s district councils, Police, Probation, Youth Justice, Fire and Rescue and Integrated Care Boards are subject to a Serious Violence Duty – this means that they are legally obliged to share information and work together to prevent and reduce serious violence.

The Serious Violence Duty was introduced through the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.

Part of this Duty is to produce and publish a response strategy, outlining steps that Devon partners are committed to taking to prevent serious violence from happening and reduce its harms in our communities.

This Strategy has been informed by a Needs Assessment, drawing together local and national data, input from Safer Devon’s partner organisations and insights from young people living in Devon to outline the kinds of serious violence taking place in the county and its causes and drivers. 

It will inform a wider response to the Serious Violence Duty across the peninsula. This includes arrangements overseen by the Police and Crime Commissioner through a new Serious Violence Prevention Strategic Partnership which will include representation from specified authorities across Devon, Torbay, Plymouth and Cornwall.

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s (DCC) Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities and Equality and DCC’s representative on the Police and Crime Panel, said:

“This Strategy recognises that the only effective way to prevent violence is through a targeted, joined up multi-agency approach which tackles the root cause of violence by focussing on prevention from early years settings and primary schools right through to adulthood.

“Devon has good foundations in place to support a preventative response to serious violence and we are well placed to build on the work initiated over recent years.”

Steve Brown, DCC’s Director of Public Health, Communities and Prosperity and the Chair of Safer Devon, said:

“This strategy takes a public health approach to violence prevention.

“It recognises that to prevent violence, the root causes must be tackled early on, measures must be in place to help guard people from victimisation and their involvement in violence through the course of their life.

“This will not only support the personal wellbeing and life chances of our young people, families and adults but also benefit the communities we live in.”