Associate Professor Matt Hopkins of the University of Leicester is hosting an important conference on Thursday 16th March on serious violence at College Court, Leicester.
Since the (then) Home Secretary announced a £100 million Serious Violence Fund to help tackle serious violence in March 2019, a plethora of intervention and evaluation activity has taken place across 20 Violence Reduction Units in areas with the highest rates of serious violence.
With the creation of the Serious Violence Duty in 2022, specified agencies across England and Wales will now be required to work together to develop strategies aimed at preventing and reducing violence. Through the promotion of a public health approach to preventing violence, the Serious Violence Duty will lead to further activity in relation to the analysis of data and the implementation and evaluation of interventions aimed at tackling serious violence.
This one day conference comes at an ideal time to both reflect on the lessons learnt from the experience of the Violence Reduction Units and the challenges posed by the Serious Violence Duty. It will bring together key policy-makers, practitioners and academics. Panel sessions will discuss issues around researching and preventing serious violence, along with evaluating interventions and approaches.
All panel sessions will be limited to 50 spaces and can only be booked via Eventbrite. When you book onto a panel session, you will automatically be reserved a seat in the plenary and closing sessions . All sessions will be recorded and made available shortly after the event via the VRN website and University of Leicester webpages.
Agenda
09:00-09:30 – Welcome, Refreshments and Introductions
09:30-10:30 – Plenary and Keynote Speakers
This session will focus on the key areas of progress, challenges and future priorities in relation to serious violence policy, public health approaches, researching serious violence and evaluation.
- DCC David Sandall – Leicestershire Police
- Grace Strong – Strategic Director of the Violence Reduction Network (Chair)
- Prof Iain Brennan – Professor of Criminology, University of Hull
- Levin Wheller – Evaluation Lead, Evaluation Taskforce, Cabinet Office
- TBC – Serious Violence Strategy Lead, Home Office
10:30-11:00 – Break
11:00-12:15 – Panel theme 1: Researching Serious Violence
These panel sessions will cover new and exciting research taking place within the field of serious violence and associated offences such as exploitation. Each panel has three options to choose from. Please select one of the following three options (1a, 1b or 1c) when reserving tickets:
Panel 1a: The Nature, Extent and Distribution of Serious Violence
Panel focus: This panel session will consider how we understand the problem of violence. This will consider how we identify which crime problems require analysis, develop our understanding of the temporal and spatial patterns of violence and the forms of data/analysis used to do this.
- Prof Peter Squires – Professor of Criminology & Public Policy, University of Brighton
- Dr Andy Newton – Associate Professor in Criminology and Policing, Nottingham Trent University
- Dr Sam Lewis – Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Leeds
Panel 1b: The Drivers of Serious Violence
Panel focus: The focus of this session will be on the causes of serious violence. The session will consider new insights from recent research on the individual, relational, community and societal risk factors associated with serious violence.
- James Stott – Strategy and Insight Manager, Crest Advisory
- Lauren Ricketts – Principal Research Officer, London’s Violence Reduction Network
- TBC
Panel 1c: The Challenges of Researching Violence
Panel focus: This session will consider a number of challenges faced when researching violence. This will range from issues with definitions, methodology, data analysis, research ethics and the impact of researching sensitive topics on researchers.
- Dr Matt Hopkins – Associate Professor of Criminology, University of Leicester
- Prof Iain Brennan – Professor of Criminology, University of Hull
- Prof Karen Bullock – Professor of Criminology, University of Surrey
12:15-13:15 – Lunch
13:15-14:30 – Panel theme 2: Preventing Serious Violence
These panel sessions will cover themes related to designing and implementing interventions. Each panel has three options to choose from. Each panel has three options to choose from. Please select one of the following three options (2a, 2b, or 2c) when reserving tickets:
Panel 2a: Being Data-led
Panel focus: This panel will consider the sources of data which can inform understanding of the local serious violence problem and the groups who are involved or at-risk of serious violence. It will consider how data products such as Strategic Needs Assessment and Injury Surveillance are developed and used, along with the challenges creating them.
- Owen Miller – Principal Data Engineer, Thames Valley Violence Reduction Network
- Bethany Grewcock – Serious Violence Data Analyst, Violence Reduction Network, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
- Dr Jennifer Germain – Trauma and Injury Intelligence Group (TIIG) Project Lead, Liverpool John Moores University
Panel 2b: Developing and Implementing Public Health Interventions to Prevent Serious Violence
Panel focus: This panel will consider the sources of data which can inform understanding of the local serious violence problem and the groups who are involved or at-risk of serious violence. It will consider how data products such as Strategic Needs Assessments and Injury Surveillance are developed and used, along with the challenges in creating them.
- Prof Zara Quigg – Professor of Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University (Mentors in Violence Prevention)
- Geraldine O’Driscoll – MVRP Evidence Hub Manager, Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership. Debi McAndrew – Early Years Lead, Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership. (Early Intervention Programmes)
- Sonia Burton – Project Manager Divert Plus, Nottingham VRU (Custody-based Intervention)
Panel 2c: Innovative Approaches to Preventing Violence
Panel focus: This session focuses on new and innovative approaches to preventing or reducing serious violence including bystander approaches and trauma-informed training.
- Lara Snowdon – Public Health Lead, Wales Violence Prevention Unit (Bystander Approaches)
- Tanya Mackay – Partnership Manager, Sussex VRU (Programme for habitual knife carriers)
- TBC
14:30-15:00 – Break
15:00-16:15 – Panel theme 3: What works and how do we know
These panel sessions will explore key themes related to designing, delivering and using the findings from evaluations. Each panel has three options to choose from. Please select one of the following three options (3a, 3b or 3c) when reserving tickets:
Panel 3a: Introducing Evaluation
Panel focus: This panel session will consider why we need to evaluate interventions. It will provide a brief overview of different types of evaluation including process, impact and economic evaluations and some of the associated challenges. Finally, it will consider where to start with implementing monitoring and evaluation.
- Dr Sarah Fullick – Head of Programmes, Youth Endowment Fund
- Tom McBride – Director, Ending Youth Violence Lab
- Finlay Green – Strategic Lead for Evaluation, Dartington Design Lab
Panel 3b: Experimental Evaluations
This session will focus on experimental evaluations, providing an overview of different types of evaluations along with highlighting key challenges. It will also showcase a current randomised control trial and share the reflections of those involved in the evaluation and in the delivery of the intervention.
- Dr Alex Sutherland – Researcher
- Dr Stevie-Jade Hardy – Head of Data, Evidence & Evaluation, Violence Reduction Network, Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland
- Ayesha Desai and Emily Jackson – Team Leaders, Reach Programme
Panel 3c: What Works and How Do We Know?
Panel focus: In this session, consideration is given to the efficacy of interventions and how we know if they work or not work. This session will cover the Youth Endowment Fund’s Toolkit and showcase findings from some recent evaluations of hotspot policing and focused deterrence.
- Pete Henderson – Head of Toolkit or Dr Laura Knight – Toolkit Lead, Youth Endowment Fund
- John Denley – Temporary Director of Investigations – National Crime Agency
- Nadia Butler – Research Fellow, Public Health Institute at Liverpool John Moores University
16:15-17:30 – Closing Remarks, Networking and Drinks
This session will involve sharing key reflections from the day and suggestions for next steps from a policy, practice and research perspective. There will also be time to make new connections, identify opportunities for collaboration and share resources.
The Venue
College Court offers overnight accommodation and free parking. For further travel information and/or to book your stay, please contact the venue directly: https://collegecourt.co.uk/
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