Publication of SCSP Thematic Review into Serious Youth Violence and Knife Crime

A joint statement from Meredith Dixon-Teasdale (Executive Director of Children’s Services, Sheffield City Council), Alun Windle (Deputy Chief Nurse, South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board) and Chief Supt Jamie Henderson (South Yorkshire Police) on behalf of the Sheffield Children’s Safeguarding Partnership (SCSP).

We are today publishing the findings of a thematic review into serious youth violence and knife crime across our partnership. This review has been jointly led by safeguarding partners across social care, health, and policing, reflecting our shared commitment to protecting young people and preventing harm.

Serious youth violence and knife crime remain deeply concerning issues, both locally and nationally. Behind every incident is a young person whose life, and the lives of their family and community, are significantly affected. This review has sought to better understand the experiences, risks, and system responses surrounding those young people most vulnerable to exploitation and harm.

The review highlights a number of key themes. These include the complexity of young people’s lives, often shaped by trauma, vulnerability, and exposure to risk both within and outside the home. It also underscores the importance of early identification, consistent professional curiosity, and joined-up multi-agency working.

While there are clear examples of positive practice across the partnership, the review also identifies areas where we must go further. In particular, we recognise the need to:

• Strengthen early intervention and prevention activity

• Improve information sharing across agencies

• Ensure that the voices of children and young people are consistently heard and acted upon

• Develop a more coordinated response to contextual safeguarding risks, including exploitation and peer-on-peer harm

We are committed to learning from this review and translating its findings into meaningful change. A multi-agency action plan is already in development, with clear governance and oversight arrangements to ensure progress is delivered and sustained. 

Since the period covered by this review, safeguarding partners have strengthened both governance and operational delivery to better prevent and respond to serious youth violence in Sheffield.

This includes the establishment of a dedicated serious violence thematic group under the Safer Sheffield Board, and the development of a city-wide ‘risk outside the home ‘strategy which ensures risks faced by young people are identified and managed more effectively across agencies.

Upcoming ‘families first’ reforms will also support earlier intervention and a more coordinated response to vulnerable children.

We recognise that there is no single organisation that can address these challenges alone. Tackling serious youth violence requires a whole-system response, and we remain committed to working closely with our communities, schools, voluntary sector partners, and families to build safer environments for our young people.

We want to be clear: safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility. We will continue to listen, learn, and act together to reduce harm and support young people to lead safe and positive lives.

To read the full report click on the dropdown called Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews on this page Learning from Reviews and Audits