Crime

• Whitehall launches £40m strategy to fight violent crime

  The Government today launched a multi-million pound strategy to tackle the ‘root causes’ of violent crime, including a task force involving local authorities.

  

• The harassment and intimidation of local councillors

  From death threats to online harassment, just why are councillors subject to increasing levels of abuse? Neil Merrick investigates.

  

• British citizens ‘largest nationality’ recorded in slavery figures

  British citizens are for the first time the largest nationality recorded as potential victims in the national trafficking and modern slavery figures.

  

• Council employee exploited systems ‘failures’ to steal £1m

  Failures in ‘fundamental controls’ within Dundee City Council’s financial systems allowed a former employee to steal £1m from the authority, auditors conclude.

  

• Schools evacuated after hoax bomb threat

  Pupils across England were evacuated yesterday after an aggrieved gamer sent a hoax email threatening to bomb one of hundreds of schools.

  

• Javid latest MP to receive 'punish a Muslim' letter

  Local government secretary Sajid Javid has become the fifth politician to receive a hate-filled anti-Muslim letter.

  

• Dismissed council employee pleads guilty to fraud

  A former civil enforcement supervisor at Reading council has been issued a 17-week suspended jail sentence after admitting to fraud.

  

• Cuts to youth services lead to rise in crime warn councils

  Government funding cuts have served to undermine years of work by local authorities in tackling youth crime, council chiefs warn.

  

• Councils protect residents from 'fake news' and scammers

  Local government leaders have issued guidance to help protect residents from scammers pretending to be from the council.

  

• Council praised for not sweeping sexual exploitation 'under the carpet'

  Newcastle City Council has been praised for the way it supported and protected the victims of sexual exploitation in a new report.