In the Media

Poor parenting to blame for London riots, report says

PUBLISHED March 27, 2012
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The Riots, Communities and Victims Panel report is due to be published tomorrow.

Today Sky News reported they had a leaked copy of the report which concludes that factors including lack of confidence in the police and materialism were also causes of the riots.

It adds: "We heard from many communities who felt that rioter behaviour could ultimately be ascribed to poor parenting."

The report was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg following the disorder in August last year.

Among its recommendations are that schools should be penalised if pupils leave without being able to read or write and that prison leavers should be given more support. It also says that 500,000 'forgotten families' should be helped to prevent youngsters becoming involved in further disorder.

It is also expected to recommend that action be taken against aggressive advertising aimed at young people, citing the materialism which led youngsters to loot from designer shops.

The panel behind the report is made up of Darra Singh, former chief executive of JobCentre Plus; Simon Marcus, boxing academy founder; barrister and government adviser Heather Rabbatts,and Maeve Sherlock, a peer who used to run the National Council for One Parent Families.

The report is one of several into the causes of last summer's riots.

Earlier this month a Scotland Yard report concluded that a water cannon would have been a "valuable" asset during rioting, a comprehensive police review into last summer's disorder has concluded.

Previously the Police Federation authored a report which revealed that one of the chief complaints of police officers on duty during the riot was the poor quality of sandwiches on offer.

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