Families to face eviction if children fail to inform on knife crime

This week a labour party member announced they will threaten to evict families if their children do not alert the police on people who commit knife crime.

Darren Rodwell, the leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, made the threat as the East London authority urged parents to keep closer tabs on their children ahead of the summer holidays amid fears of rising knife crime.

According to stats from UK Parliament in the year ending March 2022, there was around 45,000 offences that involved knife, or a sharp instrument, in England and Wales. This was 9% higher than in 2020/21 and 34% higher than in 2010/11.

Announcing his plans to reduce the amount of knife crime in the capital city, Cllr Rodwell said: ‘If your child is involved in an incident and knows who the perpetrators are, and refuses to speak out, we will look at reviewing your housing agreement.

‘Everyone must play their part in stopping these crimes. As parents, it is up to use to know where our children are, and that we play an active role.’

He also added: ‘If families know their relatives are linked to crime, they must speak up or we will start to look at tenancy agreements.’

However, Cllr Rodwell’s policy has faced opposition from youth workers and has been described as ‘counterproductive’.

One young Londoner whose family lives in a council home and who has been a victim of violence said: ‘That’s a tough situation to be put into. Nobody can deal with that. You are already a target on the streets and now your parents are a target at home.’

Following the statement, next week, the council will write to parents spelling out their responsibilities to act to stop violence and antisocial behaviour during the ‘lost hours’ of 3pm to 7pm – between children finishing school and parents returning from work.

Image: Scott Rodgerson