Letter to David Cameron from Lambeth leader Steve Reed

Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister’s office
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

12 August 2011

TACKLING YOUTH CRIME

Dear Prime Minister,

Following your statement to the House of Commons, I thought it was important and pertinent to write to you.

The recent outbreaks of vandalism and violence have been deeply upsetting to people here in Lambeth.   However in Lambeth I have been heartened by the positive response of our local community and the speed with which the police brought in additional support. I would also add that their relations with the community have been improving over many years and we are absolutely committed to developing this going forward.

You stated your personal commitment to address the issue of gang culture and to find solutions to the underlying issues that see sections of our community disengaged from their neighbours and the wider community. Lambeth has a major challenge in relation to gang culture and we have implemented a range of innovative solutions. However we see this as the right time to create a closer working relationship and want to ask for your support and involvement in addressing these issues here in Lambeth.

The gang culture is clearly not the sole source of the troubles but it is held up by others as a symbol of disengagement and enhances a culture of disaffection.  We have had a number of successes through our X-it programme, supporting community initiatives and the Young and Safe strategy. However creating longer term sustainable change is very challenging and we have seen a number of deaths this year in relation to gang related violence. You will recall the tragic incident of the 5 year old girl, Thusha Kamaleswaran, caught up in a recent shooting incident who survived but was left paralysed.

In response to this incident and others, I called a summit comprising of community leaders, the police, faith leaders, schools, youth workers and health teams.  The summit made it clear that there are no simple answers to what makes less than 1% of our young people turn to violence. These troubled young people are very few in number but the impact of their life choices reverberates across the borough.

We are working to tackle violent youth crime by creating a new partnership between the community, the council, the police and other statutory agencies that will allow the community to take the lead in finding local solutions that keep young people and their communities safe.  This is a radical departure from top-down imposed approaches that, experience shows, have only limited impact because they do not recognise the differences between communities and neighbourhoods and do not empower those most affected by the consequences of violent offending.

We will continue to take strong and decisive action and I would really welcome the opportunity to meet with you to talk through the challenges and explore how your personal commitment to tackle the issues involved can be realised here in Lambeth.


Yours sincerely,
Steve Reed
Leader of Lambeth Council
Telephone: 020 7926 1166
E-Mail: sreed@lambeth.gov.uk