Having spent time on some of the worst estates in Britain talking to frontline police officers, residents and members of those communities, it is shocking to see how entrenched and generational the social problems are: fly-blown, rat-infested flats occupied by small children with raw heels because their parents can’t afford shoes the right size.
Domestic violence is endemic. On one estate, the council always used to house vulnerable women fleeing violent, abusive partners at the same flat. Organised crime groups found out which one and targeted these women as soon as they moved in, so they could hook them on hard drugs and use the flat for their expanding drug empire. It seems surprising that the council and the police are not communicating about this, but it highlights one of the key problems – agencies and partners do not share information, they work in silos.
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