Serious Violence Involving Children and Young People Needs Assessment 2026

Executive Summary

Serious violence presents a complex and far-reaching challenge, affecting individuals, families and communities across England. As defined in the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy, it encompasses offences such as homicide, knife and firearm crime, domestic abuse, sexual violence, robbery, exploitation, and emerging threats including corrosive substance attacks. These harms are rarely isolated; they often coexist with entrenched trauma, inequality and wider community harm. Serious Youth Violence focuses on offences perpetrated by and against children and young adults, for this report being the ages 10-24 year-olds.

Surrey continues to rank among the safest counties nationally. However, overall safety can obscure emerging risks and uneven patterns of harm for a small number of children and young people. The evidence is clear: violence is not inevitable, it is preventable, and Surrey’s strong partnership landscape provides a critical opportunity to intervene earlier and more effectively.

This report provides a comprehensive assessment of serious violence affecting children and young people aged 10–24, bringing together information from the police, youth justice, probation, education, health and safeguarding partners, for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2025, alongside professional insight and young person lived experience.

The analysis seeks to answer three core questions:

• who is most affected,

• where harm is happening, and

• what helps prevent violence before it escalates.

This report has been developed by the Surrey Serious Violence Reduction Partnership (SVRP) to build a comprehensive evidence-based understanding of the nature, causes and consequences of serious violence involving children and young people, aged 10 to 24, across Surrey. Its purpose is to provide a robust evidence base that supports effective decision-making, priority-setting and coordinated action by the partnership.

Drawing on quantitative data, professional insight and lived experience, the assessment identifies the key areas, patterns and underlying drivers of serious violence. It highlights who is most affected, where risk is concentrated, and how harm develops and escalates, in order to inform earlier and more preventative responses.

The assessment is grounded in a combined Public Health and place-based approach. The Public Health approach focuses on understanding serious violence through evidence, identifying underlying causes, risk factors and early indicators, with an emphasis on prevention and reducing incidence. The place-based approach considers where risk is concentrated and promotes community-led, asset-based responses that build on local strengths to create safe and supportive environments for children, young people and families.

Together, these approaches ensure that responses to serious violence are collaborative, preventative and proportionate, reflecting serious youth violence as a complex issue that extends beyond enforcement alone.

About the Authors

The Serious Violence Lead for the Serious Violence Reduction Partnership (SVRP) sits within the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), and works in partnership with the Surrey Community Safety and Prevention Board (CSPB). This role also collaborates with The Surrey Office of Data Analytics (SODA), a multi-agency partnership, providing data-driven insights and analytical support.

For more information about the SVRP, please contact:

Sarah Haywood, Community Safety, Serious Violence and Partnership Lead

[email protected]

For more information about SODA, please contact: [email protected]

Document Title: Surrey Serious Violence Involving Children and Young People Needs Assessment 2026

Published: 10/09/2026

Description: Serious Violence Involving Children and Young People (10-24 year-olds) Needs Assessment for Surrey 2026

Produced by: The Serious Violence Lead and the Surrey Office of Data Analytics (SODA)

Contributions from the following organisations: Surrey County Council, Surrey Police, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey , Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), NHS Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board, Surrey Public Health.

On behalf of: The document has been co-produced on behalf of the Surrey Community Safety and Prevention Board (CSPB), Serious Violence Reduction Partnership.

Geographic Coverage: Surrey

Time Period: 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2025

Format: PDF

Final Version: September 2026

Usage Statement: This product is the property of the Community Safety and Prevention Board (CSPB). If you wish to reproduce this document either in whole, or in part, please acknowledge the source and the author(s).

Disclaimer: Community Safety and Prevention Board (CSPB), while believing the information in this publication to be correct, does not guarantee its accuracy nor does the CSPB accept any liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage or other consequences, however arising from the use of such information supplied.