Coalition sets out policy response to riots
Neil Puffett
Monday, August 22, 2011
The government was eager to be seen on the front foot in the wake of the rioting across England.
The police shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in Tottenham on 4 August sparked days of unrest. Rioting and looting took hold there 48 hours later before spreading to other parts of the capital, and then to other towns and cities in England.
Although three-quarters of those charged are reported to be over 18, the response has involved a raft of policy announcements that will affect children and families.
Prime Minister David Cameron said tackling Britain's "broken society" is at the top of his agenda. He called for "an all out war" on gangs and set up a gangs taskforce led by Home Secretary Theresa May and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.
Harassing gang leaders by putting them in court for simple misdemeanours such as littering has already been suggested. May has also said the use of gang injunctions will be extended to under-18s and police will have extra powers to remove face coverings.
Government messages were more mixed on those convicted of offences. Tough rhetoric from many Conservative MPs was balanced by calls from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for restorative justice.
Cameron has also said he will push "further, faster" on plans to allow schools to discipline those who misbehave. Meanwhile, he has proposed a "family test" to be applied to all domestic policies and said plans to improve parenting will be accelerated. He pledged to turn around the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families in Britain in the lifetime of this parliament.
But some of those families could soon be financially worse off.
Duncan Smith has suggested those convicted of rioting could lose their benefits, while many local authorities threatened to evict council house tenants involved in the disorder.
PLEDGES AND REVIEWS
October 2011 Gangs taskforce to report on ways of addressing gang culture in the UK, and the potential for adopting successful models used in Strathclyde, Scotland, and Boston, US. Bill Bratton, former police commissioner for Los Angeles, will consult the taskforce.
October 2011 Consultation due to be completed on speeding up the eviction of council house tenants, already under way prior to the riots.
November 2011 Department for Education's youth policy, Positive for Youth, is due to be published, although it is unclear whether it will be subject to revision as a result of the riots. It has been consulting on the policy since March.
Spring 2012 The earliest time that plans to remove face coverings of rioters could be made law through amendments to the current freedoms bill.
2015 Date by which David Cameron has pledged to "turn around the lives" of 120,000 of the most troubled families in Britain.
