Serious violence is the term used to describe violence that causes life-changing harm or death. It includes specific crimes such as homicide, knife crime, and gun crime. It also can include types of criminality that involve serious violence, such as gangs and county lines drug dealing.
In Cornwall, we have agreed that we will focus on the issues that have the most impact in our communities.
The Government’s new Serious Violence Duty published here sets out the requirements for every local area to have a dedicated focus and plan for tackling serious violence. The Duty was introduced by the Government as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021.
The Duty applies to specific organisations, described as the specified authorities. These organisations are: Devon and Cornwall Police, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board, Cornwall Council, the Probation Service, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Youth Justice Service and Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service.
The specified authorities must work together to publish a strategy and strategic needs assessment which sets out what they are doing to tackle serious violence in their area and to show that they understand what the main issues are.
All of the specified authorities are members of Safer Cornwall so this partnership is the lead on delivering the Duty in Cornwall.
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Safer Cornwall have set up a multi-agency Serious Violence Prevention Programme Steering Group to co-ordinate and monitor the work that’s being carried out by partners.
In January 2024, Safer Cornwall published our first Strategic Framework to prevent and reduce violence in our communities. The framework brings together existing strategies that target different types of violence. It shows the work that services are doing to address the risk factors of violent behaviours. It also describes what we could do better with a joint approach.
We have also made a commitment to work together with our partners across the Peninsula to address serious violence. This is known as the Serious Violence Prevention Concordat and covers Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Devon, Torbay and Plymouth. More information about this work can be found here.
We have also undertaken a local needs assessment that helped us to understand key information about violence in Cornwall.
Safer Cornwall serious violence strategic needs assessmentFrom this we have prioritised the following types of violence and people and places:
Our priority themes are:
Our priority people and places are:
This evaluation covers the first two years of the funded programme, which delivered the Breaking the Cycle strategy. Following this initial phase, the programme advanced into a second phase, with the SVPP as the core of the Serious Violence Prevention Strategic Framework for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
SVPP Evaluation 2022-2024 Summary ReportOur Youth Participation Framework engaged with over 300 young people, nearly half with lived experience of violence. We will explore how we can use this work more effectively across our partners in 2026.
The framework that they created sets out how we can involve young people meaningfully in designing and improving services, including trusted ways to share their experiences and value their input.
Speak…Prevent Violence – our Young People Participation Framework Speak…Prevent Violence – Our contract with young people
The ACTing with Children project has been the flagship intervention within Cornwall’s Serious Violence Prevention Programme since the start of the programme. Argyle Community Trust were commissioned to develop and pilot a dedicated child-centred support service for children affected by parental imprisonment. The three-year pilot (2023-2026) was funded through the Police and Crime Commissioner and Home Office Serious Violence Duty Grant.”
(CAPI).
Safer Cornwall would like to update partners and the wider community on the pilot project providing support for Children Affected by Parental Imprisonment, ‘ACTing with Children’. As the pilot is due to conclude on 31 March 2026, we are no longer able to accept new referrals of children or families into the programme.
Throughout the duration of the Serious Violence Prevention Programme funded pilot, more than 100 children have received tailored, child‑centred interventions and community‑based support. We would like to thank all referral partners whose engagement has ensured that this provision reached the children and families who needed it most.
Although the pilot is coming to an end, our delivery partner Argyle Community Trust has committed to supporting children already engaged through ACTing with Children until the end of the 2025/26 academic year and will also continue to offer their range of community-based programmes across Cornwall. Safer Cornwall recognises them as a trusted and highly effective partner, and we are delighted with the positive impact achieved through their work across the life of the pilot.
You can find out more about their ongoing services here:
🔗 https://argylecommunitytrust.co.uk
If you are working with a child or family who continues to require support related to imprisonment, please be assured that a range of alternative services remain available:
• Children Heard and Seen – online one‑to‑one support and self‑referrals
🔗 https://childrenheardandseen.co.uk/11-support/
• Prisoners’ Families Helpline – information and freephone support (0808 808 2003)
🔗 https://www.prisonersfamilies.org
• National Information Centre on Children of Offenders (NICCO) – resources for professionals working with children of offenders
🔗 https://www.nicco.org.uk
• Argyle Community Trust (Plymouth) – one‑to‑one support for children affected by parental offending in Plymouth
[[email protected]]
• SPACE Youth Services (Devon) – tailored support through the Not My Sentence programme
🔗 https://www.spaceyouthservices.org/not-my-sentence
Thank you for your continued collaboration and commitment to supporting children and families in our communities. If you have any questions about the transition or available support options, please get in touch with the Safer Cornwall team – [email protected]
Almost 80% of families affected will not tell anyone outside close family and friends that a parent is in prison. National research has found that the impacts on children can include increased mental ill health and emotional trauma, lower academic achievement, and anti-social behaviour. It can also lead to involvement in the criminal justice system, and social disadvantage.
In this video, we hear from some of the young people, and staff from the Trust and schools about this vital intervention programme.
Liam Bryant, Argyle Community Trust Community Coach for East Cornwall, and key delivery staff for the ACTing With Children programme, talks about how ACTing With Children is supporting the forgotten young people in Cornwall and how this vital project would have helped him as a young person with a parent in prison.
