Islington Council has launched a new Youth Safety Strategy for 2025-2030, aiming to adopt a public health approach to protect young people. The strategy, developed through extensive consultation with young people, parents, and professionals, focuses on four key areas: identifying and preventing harm, engaging and supporting young people and communities, protecting and diverting those at risk, and disrupting persistent offenders.
Councillor Sheila Chapman, Executive Member for Children, Young People & Families, introduced the strategy, highlighting the multi-agency approach and the commitment to addressing the root causes of youth violence, particularly inequalities. The strategy acknowledges the disproportionate impact of youth violence on Black young men and White young men from deprived backgrounds, as well as concerns for young women and girls regarding sexual exploitation.
Key concerns raised during the consultation included knife crime, gangs, drug dealing, bullying in schools, and on-street violence. Young people also expressed a desire for more CCTV, financial support, better street lighting, and increased safety education in schools. Parents echoed concerns about safety, with a preference for more police presence and mental health support.
The strategy emphasizes building trust with communities, particularly minority ethnic groups, and working collaboratively to create safer environments. It aims to identify young people at risk early, provide tailored support, and divert them from the criminal justice system. For those already involved in harmful behaviour, the strategy outlines targeted disruption and enforcement measures.
Addressing Root Causes and Tailored Support
The strategy aims to address the root causes of youth violence by tackling structural inequalities and focusing on early intervention and prevention. This includes improving school attendance and inclusion, reducing disproportionality within the youth and criminal justice system, and enhancing safe spaces for young people.
Concrete examples of tailored support include:
- For young people with SEND, SEMH, and neurodiversity: Upskilling frontline staff to provide interventions and ensuring services meet their needs adequately and as early as possible.
- For young women and girls: Providing female-only sessions and activities, supporting female-led interventions, and offering healthy relationship support. A relationship screening tool will be used to identify risks of harm.
- For young people involved in group-based offending: Access to psychologists and specialist key working support through the ICAN service.
- For those at risk of exploitation: Continuing to manage National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decisions locally and working with partners to provide appropriate support to victims of sexual abuse.
- For those at risk of causing harm: Working with young men and those at risk of perpetrating violence against women and girls.
Disruption, Enforcement, and Accountability
Specific disruption and enforcement measures include a more visible enforcement presence in affected areas, targeting persistent offenders, prosecuting exploiters, and using data to identify hot spots. These are balanced with diversionary tactics through early intervention and prevention, and building trust with communities.
The strategy emphasizes a multi-agency approach, with action plans monitored by the Youth Justice Services Management Board, which meets quarterly with senior representatives from key agencies. Updates will also be provided to the Safer Islington Partnership Board and the Islington Safeguarding Partnership Board. Data sharing between partners will be crucial for identifying and protecting at-risk individuals and families.
Measuring Success and Safety Education
The success of the Youth Safety Strategy will be measured by a range of metrics, including increased young people's sense of safety, reduced levels of serious youth violence and knife crime, fewer young people entering the youth justice system, and reduced school exclusions. The strategy also aims to reduce the attainment gap and the number of young people who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).
Improvements for safety education in schools include increased learning about personal safety, ensuring safe and inclusive environments, and training on safeguarding against online risks. The effectiveness of the strategy will be evaluated through action research and realistic evaluation approaches, allowing data to inform practice and adapt delivery to meet the needs of young people.
Specific Actions for Young Women and Girls
The strategy includes specific actions to address the concerns of young women and girls regarding sexual exploitation, violence, and harassment. This involves using a gendered lens on youth safety, providing female-only sessions, offering healthy relationship support, and developing a relationship screening tool. The council will also work with partners to provide support for victims of sexual abuse and domestic abuse, and develop trauma-informed support in schools and services.
Councillor Chapman stressed the importance of early intervention and prevention, stating that the preventative element is absolutely essential because that's how we stop children from entering the criminal justice system.
The strategy also recognizes the need for improved support for young women and girls, who reported feeling particularly unsafe at certain times of the day and expressed concerns about sexual violence and harassment.
The full strategy can be found in the Public reports pack.
Further details on the committee meeting can be found in the Agenda frontsheet.
