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Christian MP wants cost of fight against gang violence evaluated

by Desmond Busteed

It follows a new report published by a group of MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee which revealed children as young as seven are at risk of becoming embroiled in gang culture.

The study also found Government has no idea how the programme on gangs is doing, despite spending 10 million pounds it.

Speaking on Premier's News Hour, Conservative MP David Burrowes, who is also vice-chair of the of the All-Party Parliamentary Child and Youth Crime Group said: "I think we need to recognise that there is attention on the issue of gangs, the concern is ...do we know how many gangs are out there? How do we define what we mean by gangs... all those issues need to be cleared up."

The 'Ending Gang and Youth Violence' strategy was set up by the Home Office after riots spread across British cities in the summer of 2011.

In 2013, the Metropolitan Police reported 259 violent youth gangs and 4,800 gang members operating across 19 London boroughs. The following year almost 20 young people were either stabbed or shot every week in the city.

And in 2012, Greater Manchester Police identified 66 gangs with an estimated total of 886 members. However, there is no national database of gangs and their members, or even an agreed definition of what a gang is.

Conservative MP David Burrowes:

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