Back in May 2006, Lambeth was the only council in the country that Labour won back from opposition. Now, less than two years later, Lambeth’s officially the fastest improving council in the country, leaping in one go to a three-star rating from the dismal one star failure we inherited from the Tories and Lib Dems.
One thing that really marks out a good Labour council is our willingness to tackle the tough issues head on, rather than just moan about the government like our opponents do. Crime is a big issue across Britain, and the increase in violent youth crime is a particular worry in some inner-city areas.
On 14 February, the anniversary of the murder of teenager Billy Cox on an estate in Clapham, I will join the council’s partners including the police and community organisations to sign off London’s first comprehensive local strategy to tackle guns and gang-related violence.
Working under six headings, the action plan brings together a range of projects designed to tackle the effects as well as the causes of violent youth crime. It includes: tougher enforcement to get drugs and guns off our streets; more support to help families that are struggling; new resources for schools to teach children about the dangers of gangs; jobs and skills training on estates where unemployment remains high; investment in youth services that give young people positive things to do; support for the community to build its capacity to tackle local problems locally.
Among specific projects will be a helpline for parents worried that their child might be involved in gangs, and a register of high achievers to act as role models working with young people. Our crackdown on street drug dealing will see ASBOs served on anyone convicted of buying or selling drugs in public places so their name can be published and we can ban them from our town centres.
We recognise that the problem of violent youth crime is a social problem with a criminal aspect, not the other way round. That requires new approaches to giving hope back to young people excluded from it. Worklessness remains high on some of our estates, with young people brought up with little expectation they can benefit from living in one of the richest cities on earth. We on the left have a duty to extend to these excluded young people the opportunity that middle-class families expect for their children as a right. That means a new focus on skills training that leads to meaningful work, and the development of interests and activities where young people can experience success.
Lambeth’s X-it project recently won the Guardian Public Services Award for best children’s service. It works by training young people on tough estates to work with other young people who are getting into trouble and diverting them into positive activities instead. It has a 72 per cent success rate. The project shows how an engaged Labour council working hand in hand with the community can make change happen.
Guns and gangs are a problem rooted in social exclusion. This is not an agenda the right-wing Tories or the do-nothing Lib Dems have a clue about. Only we on the left, in our communities, town halls and in government, have the reach into the community and the commitment to equality and opportunity to wake up to the problem and find solutions that work.