Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, John Tizard has responded positively to the Home Secretary’s recent announcement regarding the introduction of a Youth Crime Plan.

Yvette Cooper, MP, the Home Secretary has said that all police areas will have to have such a plan by the end of this calendar year.

The plan aims to address critical issues such as crime prevention, strategies to combat knife crime, the establishment of youth hubs and improving mental health services for young people.

John Tizard has said that he wants to work with local authority, NHS, probation and voluntary and community sector partners as well as the police to develop and agree a comprehensive plan for Bedfordshire.

He said that the plan should include proposals relating to education, training, and employment.

He further commented that youth crime is a major problem but that it can only be tackled by addressing underlying social, economic and health causes with a major role for the introduction of youth hubs and active programmes in schools.

“There is a great opportunity for us all to build on our existing partnership arrangements and existing plans including the work of the police, VERU, the youth offending teams and others.

“Given that this a crime plan, I am proposing to take the initiative to convene a meeting in the next few weeks to begin the process of developing a pan-Bedfordshire cross-sector plan.”

Mr Tizard has already taken proactive steps by writing to key stakeholders across the county.

In his communication, the Commissioner highlighted the importance of collaboration in addressing youth crime and stressed the opportunity for Bedfordshire to be ahead of the national initiative.

If you’d like to contact the PCC, please email pcc@beds.police.uk