Northamptonshire Serious Violence Duty Evaluation

The Serious Violence Duty (the “Duty”) was introduced as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, and came into force on 31st January 2023. The Duty requires organisations to work together and plan to reduce and prevent serious violence in their local area through the adoption of a public health approach.

As part of the Duty, agencies are obliged to share data and information, identify the types of serious violence that occur in the local area, and determine what is causing that violence. The Duty also requires organisations to work collaboratively to produce an evidence-informed strategic needs assessment and to publish a serious violence response strategy.

The Home Office has set three key success measures for the prevention and reduction of serious violence, which are:
1. A reduction in hospital admissions for assaults with a knife or sharp object.
2. A reduction in knife and sharp object enabled serious violence recorded by the Police.
3. A reduction in homicides recorded by the Police.

The Institute for Public Safety, Crime and Justice (IPSCJ) which is part of University of Northampton (UON) has agreed to work in partnership with the Northamptonshire Office of Police, Fire and Crime (OPFCC) to support evaluation of this work.