In Avon and Somerset, the Lottery-funded programme – Splash Extra – saw street crime and robbery fall by 31 per cent in those parts which ran it, compared to an increase of 56 per cent where the scheme did not run. In South Yorkshire, this type of crime fell by 17 per cent where Splash Extra ran, compared to an increase of 62 per cent where it did not. Across all ten Summer Splash areas, there was an overall reduction in the crime rate of 5.2 per cent between July-September.
Part of the cross-Government Street Crime Initiative, the Summer Splash Extra programme received £8.8 million of Lottery money from the New Opportunities Fund, and was delivered in both deprived neighbourhoods and city centres. It involved 91,000 young people in activities during the summer holidays, nearly double the number targeted. Around 2.5 million young person hours of activity were delivered, at a cost of around £2.60 per young person per hour.
Welcoming the figures, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said:
"Splash Extra is about getting young people off the sofas - and off the streets - and showing them that there are productive and enjoyable ways they can spend their time.
"It is also about giving them experiences that many children in more wealthy areas take for granted. The young people's appetite for this kind of positive experience is shown by the numbers that participated.
"Summer Splash is clearly good for those who take part, but it is also good for those they live with , and the community they live within.
"Our task now is to see how we can sustain and extend this approach."
Baroness Jill Pitkeathley, Chair of the New Opportunities Fund, said:
"We are delighted that the Lottery money that we have committed to these schemes has provided young people with a chance to enjoy challenging activities, ranging from outdoor adventure to multi-media projects.
"The Fund is committed to working with a range of partners to provide those most disadvantaged in society with opportunities to develop their skills, and improve their quality of life.
"Splash Extra helps to raise young people's aspirations and life chances, and promises to have long-term benefits for the whole community."
Lord Warner, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board said:
"For the third year running, Splash schemes have proved themselves to be vital in the crime prevention agenda. Many areas with little provision for young people were transformed by the projects last summer with residents, police and the young people themselves seeing a real improvement in youth crime and anti-social behaviour.
"The improvement in anti-social behaviour is based on reports presented to the YJB by Splash Extra Scheme Co-ordinators and Youth Offending Teams, and an electronic survey of Splash Extra participants.
"If we show these young people a better alternative to crime and anti-social behaviour now, we should see a marked improvement for these high crime areas in the future as well as the youth justice system as a whole."
With Lottery funding from the New Opportunities Fund, Splash Extra was delivered by the Youth Justice Board supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Arts Council of England (ACE). There were 296 schemes, which targeted children and young people aged 9-17 years old, identified as at risk of offending.
Notes to Editors
1. Splash has been running since summer 2000. For further details contact the Youth Justice Board on 020 7271 3076/3014.
2. The New Opportunities Fund distributes National Lottery money to health, education and environment projects across the UK with a particular focus on disadvantage and improving quality of life. To date the New Opportunities Fund has committed over £1.3 billion in funding. The Fund supports sustainable projects that will:
- Improve the quality of life of people throughout the UK,
- Address the needs of those who are most disadvantaged in society,
- Encourage community participation,
- Complement relevant local and national strategies and programmes.
Funding for programmes is divided between England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales on the basis of population weighted to reflect levels of deprivation.
Further information about New Opportunities Fund can be accessed at http://www.nof.org.uk/ Press Office 020 7211 1888, email pressoffice@nof.org.uk Out of hours media line 07867 500572.
In August 2001 the New Opportunities Fund launched it's £38.75million Activities for Young People programme in England. This programme has allocated grants to a variety of summer activity partnerships in England which aim to open the doors of opportunity to school leavers. Partners in each of the 47 Connexions areas in England are delivering summer activities over the next three years. The funding supports a range of summer activities including outdoor adventure, arts, media,
vocational training and volunteering; as well as providing careers guidance
and help with CV writing and interview skills. Projects involve a combination of locally-based daytime activity and residential courses. The projects are known as uproject in England and Barclays have sponsored the development of a webpage at http://www.uproject.org.uk/ to share news and information across the community of participants.
In April 2002 the Fund announced £2.25million for the Activities for Young
People programme in Northern Ireland. £3.25million was announced for
programme activity in Wales in Sept 2002.
In Scotland, £35 million from the New Opportunities for PE & Sport programme
has been ring-fenced for activity-based projects. This £35 million will fund
Out of School Hours sporting and cultural activities for 5- 16 year olds, as
well as activities designed specifically to divert young people away from
anti-social behaviour or behaviour likely to lead to crime. This
diversionary strand is known as Active Steps.
3. Building upon the success of previous Splash schemes, this year the Youth Justice Board worked with DCMS and the Arts Council to establish a broader and more consistent range of provision, including not only high quality sport, arts and personal development work, but also activities based around multi-media, the creative industries and libraries.
4. Previous research suggests that the crime reduction impact of Splash schemes persists long after they have finished.
5. The ten street crime areas are: Avon and Somerset, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Metropolitan (London), Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Thames Valley, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire.
SPLASH EXTRA 2002 FINDINGS
Inputs
- Building on the success of Splash, which offers activities for 13-17 year olds from high crime neighbourhoods during the summer holidays, the New Opportunities Fund provided £8.8 million for a major expansion of the programme, called Splash Extra.
- Splash Extra aimed to contribute to the Government's Street Crime and Robbery Initiative (SCRI), and focussed on the 10 police force areas the initiative has targeted.
- Schemes were aimed at both high crime neighbourhoods and urban centres, which tend to attract young people during the holidays. Each scheme's target was to involve one hundred 13-17 year olds and sixty 9-12 year olds.
- Of the £8.8 million of funding, £1.5m was given to The Arts Council of England, with the remaining £7.3m allocated to the YJB. This was in addition to the £590,000 already allocated to the Splash schemes in the 10 SCRI Police Force areas, who were asked to "upgrade" to Splash Extra.
- Each new Splash Extra Scheme was provided with £25,000 from the YJB, with upgraded Splash schemes receiving £10,000 in addition to their existing Splash funding.
Key Outputs
37 Youth Offending Teams (Yots) delivered 296 schemes over the summer, 59 of which were upgraded Splash schemes. These schemes were successfully targeted in high crime neighbourhoods and urban centres within the 10 Police Force Areas by Yots.
Attendance
- 91,023 young people were engaged - nearly double the original target of 48,000. Of the total number engaged, 51% were from the 9-12 age group.
- The Male: Female split was approximately 62% to 38%, marking a slight increase in the proportion of females compared with Splash 2001. For The Arts Council of England activities, Male: Female Ratios differed from the overall picture, with 55% of attendees being female.
Activities
- Approximately 29,780 activities were offered over the summer, with the approximate number of young person hours delivered reaching 2.5 million. Activities were delivered a cost of £2.58 per young person per hour (based on total scheme spend).
Overall Crime
- The National Programme saw a reduction in total crime of 5.2% during the period July to September 2002 compared with a decrease of 1.9% over the same period in 2001.
- New schemes saw a 5.1% decrease in total crime during the period July to September 2002, compared with a 5.8% decrease in those upgraded scheme areas which had run previously.
- Urban schemes saw a 5.9% reduction during the period July to September compared with a 7.6% increase in 2001.
- Neighbourhood schemes saw a 5.0% reduction during the period July to September compared with a 4.6% reduction in 2001.
Robbery
- Splash Extra's primary aim was to contribute to reduce robbery and theft in its areas, as part of the Street Crime and Robbery Initiative. The 6 police force areas for which comparative data was available for July and August 2002 and 2001 all showed significant reductions in robbery within Splash Extra BCUs, of between 9% and 31%.
- When these reductions are compared with the non-Splash Extra BCUs within the 6 Police Force areas, some particularly impressive results emerge:
These results cannot simply be attributed to dispersion of crimes from Splash BCUs to non Splash BCUs. For example, in Avon and Somerset, while there were 140 less robbery offences this summer than last in the Splash Extra areas, there were only 33 more elsewhere.
Crimes likely to involve young people
Five crimes commonly associated with youth offending (motor crime, domestic burglary, robbery, criminal damage and drug offences) were analysed (these are referred to as 'crimes 1-5' below). These also present some encouraging figures:
- The National Programme saw a reduction during the period July to September in crimes 1-5 of 3.9% against the same period in 2001, when there was a 0.7% increase.
- Urban schemes saw a 7.5% reduction during the period July to September compared with an 8.3% increase in 2001.
- Neighbourhood schemes saw a 2.8% reduction during the period July to September compared with a 1.5% reduction in 2001.
