The police and crime commissioner for North Wales, Andy Dunbobbin, along with key partners, have commissioned Wavehill to evaluate serious violence interventions.

The independent consultancy firm will carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the serious violence funding interventions commissioned by community safety partnerships (CSPs) throughout North Wales since September 1, 2024.

This is part of the ongoing work around the North Wales Serious Violence Response Strategy, launched in June, aimed at preventing and reducing serious violence across the region.

The strategy focuses on bringing together partners including the police, local authorities, fire and rescue services, and specified health and criminal justice agencies to tackle serious violence and its root causes.

In 2022-23, more than 30,000 offences of violence against the person were recorded by the police across the region, amounting to 44 offences per 1,000 people.

The key priorities of the North Wales strategy include supporting and enhancing prevention and early intervention around violence against women and girls, domestic abuse, and sexual violence, promoting contextual safeguarding to work with children and young people vulnerable to exploitation and/or modern slavery, identifying and implementing improvements, best practices, and innovation as a partnership to respond to serious violence, and building a preventative approach in North Wales through an understanding of risk, adverse childhood experiences, and trauma.

The analysis will measure the effectiveness of these interventions in reducing serious violence and making local communities safer.

It will also help ensure that funding and investment are being directed in the most effective way for the people across the region.

Mr Dunbobbin said: "The appointment of Wavehill to evaluate the effectiveness of our work to reduce serious violence underscores our commitment to addressing this issue on behalf of the people of North Wales.

"By scrutinising the effectiveness of existing interventions, this work will serve as a crucial guide in shaping the future North Wales Serious Violence Response Strategy and its aim of preventing and combating serious violence across the region."

Ian Bancroft, chair of the Safer North Wales Partnership Board, aded: "The evaluation will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness and impact of current interventions to reduce serious violence.

"It will enable community safety partnerships (CSPs) and stakeholders to make informed decisions about future resource allocation, projects, and the development of new initiatives that actively target the root causes of serious violence within our communities."

Andy Parkinson, director at Wavehill, continued: "We are delighted to be working with the police and crime commissioner for North Wales and key partners across the region to provide an independent evaluation of serious violence interventions throughout North Wales.

"Our evaluation, commissioned by community safety partnerships (CSPs), will help inform future strategies to support safer communities."

Wavehill is expected to report back on its findings in March 2025, and these will be published on the website of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for North Wales.