THE Scottish Government’s youth violence summit was “absolutely” not a talking shop, the Justice Secretary has said.
Angela Constance said the summit was needed as the nature of crime changes due to the rise of social media.
She told the PA news agency it is important that the Government speaks to those on the front line battling youth knife crime.
First Minister John Swinney brought together Government, charities and youth workers on Thursday in a bid to curb the violence.
It comes amid a spate of high-profile teen stabbings, two of which have led to deaths in the last two months.
The Scottish Conservatives described the summit as a “talking shop” – but Constance said that is “absolutely” not true.
“It’s important that Government speaks to the right people,” she said.
“Earlier this year, we spoke to families and young people affected by violence, and we have now taken the opportunity to speak directly to those that are on the front line in terms of delivering youth work and preventative services.
“I know that there is little comfort if you’ve been a victim of crime, or indeed if your family has suffered a very tragic fatality, but what I want to ensure is that the Government as a whole, whether that’s in education, whether that’s in justice, whether it’s the work that we do in health, that we are very focused on prevention.
“It’s about preventing harm occurring in the first place, and that means we need to continue to invest and work with our young people to improve their prospects.”
Constance said her Government has tackled crime with “great success”, but she admitted there is more to do, “because the lives of young people are changing, the challenges that young people are facing also change”.
She added: “This isn’t a talking shop. This is about listening to those in the front line to ensure that we deliver the right actions and the right interventions.
“But that has to be done in partnership, because it’s everybody’s responsibility to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.”
The Justice Secretary said Scotland is a safer place now than it was 15 years ago, with violent crime among young people down, but she said the summit is important as the nature of crime changes.
She said: “For example, we know that social media is being used to negatively influence young people, young men in particular, we know that social media is being used to orchestrate and organise crime.
“So that means that crime and the nature of crime is changing in today’s society, so our response has to match that, not just from a policing perspective, but also from a prevention and a public health perspective too.”
When asked what advice she has for young people considering carrying a knife, she said: “Don’t. There is never any reason or any excuse to carry a knife. All that you will do is increase the risk of harm to yourself or others.”
Jimmy Paul, who heads the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), an organisation tackling knife crime in Glasgow, attended the summit.
Asked what was discussed, he said: “Well, in a sentence, there are no earth-shattering solutions. There are no silver bullets.
“But actually, we know what works, and certainly at the VRU, 20 years of our existence, of evaluating it, testing new things, we know that youth work works.
“We know that safe spaces are important. We know the importance of whole family support, and there was a commitment today to make sure that there is more of that available to young people.”
Medics Against Violence founder Christine Goodall, who also attended the meeting, described it as a “success”.
She said young people often carry weapons because they are afraid for their own safety.
But she warned people against thinking Scotland is not a safe country.
“I think one of the things we need to be really careful about is not to create that idea that Scotland is a violent country, because it’s really not.
“The violence figures have gone down year-on-year, and the recent homicide figures have gone down again this year.
“So I think we need to be careful not to encourage young people to think that actually they’re living in a violent country.”
