To ask the Minister of Justice what cross-departmental initiatives aimed at young people have been considered or implemented to reduce criminal activity related to significant levels of deprivation.

My Department is actively engaged in cross departmental working in delivering on the justice agenda to build a fair, just and safer society. This is also a central theme of my Department’s Strategic Framework for Reducing Offending which recognises that offending behaviour can be linked to a number of wider factors, including poverty and deprivation. The Framework undertakes to explore ways to encourage and support joined up working between Neighbourhood Renewal Partnerships and Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs).

Funding is provided by my Department to PCSPs across Northern Ireland to address local community safety and policing priorities which are identified in consultation with local communities. The partnerships address measures to tackle, for example, anti-social behaviour, crime and the fear of crime. A number of indices, including crime rates, population and deprivation are used to calculate the level of funding each PCSP receives.

My Department also contributes towards the Early Intervention Transformation Programme, which is a cross-departmental fund set up to target interventions at children most in need, including those living in areas of social deprivation, with the overall aim of improving their life outcomes, including the prevention of offending.