The following paper was submitted  for consideration by the London Mayor’s ‘Time for Action’ and Community Safety Teams and the London Mayor’s Expert Advisory Group.

Context:

On 13 December 2010, the Mayor’s Expert Advisory Group (MEAG) received and discussed a paper:  Serious Youth Violence in London – a brief retrospective on recent action that was written on its behalf and circulated by Ray Lewis.  Members of the MEAG present at that meeting were:  Ray Lewis, Bevan Powell, Richard Taylor and Gus John (for part of the agenda).  Apologies had been received from other MEAG members.

At that meeting, Gus John provided a verbal critique of the paper and attempted to examine both the GLA’s response and that of the African heritage community to the issue of serious youth violence, assessing the role of the MEAG in the context of the latter.  After some discussion, Gus John offered to write a paper and set out his views of the issues and challenges which the Mayor and his team as well as the MEAG need to address.

These are therefore the views of Gus John and not necessarily of the MEAG.  The latter are invited to state whether they are in agreement that this paper should form the basis of a discussion with the Mayor on 21 December 2010, acknowledging the fact that both MEAG and the Mayor’s team(s) may wish to  have a wider ranging discussion of the issues once the paper has been given due consideration. Read the rest of this entry →