It is unfortunate that gang crime is now a serious issue to be dealt with in Britain. Several gang-related cases have made the national press recently. But it seems that these cases are just the tip of the iceberg. Today sees schools minister Vernon Coaker unveiling a set of guidelines on how to detect signs of gang-involvement among children and youths.

According to the document presented today at the ‘Tackling Serious Youth Violence’ conference, younger siblings of existing gang members are especially exposed to criminal activity. The newest proposals will seek to curb such trends from the onset by offering guidelines of how to identify tell-tale signs of gang involvement among children under 15.

No one expects eradicating gang activity to be an easy fix, yet initiatives like the one proposed by the schools minister, are a start. In our upcoming April issue, we look at what the three main parties have to say about gang activity.

While home secretary Alan Johnson emphasised measures such as tougher punishments, his shadow Chris Grayling emphasised the importance of successfully placing youngsters in education, employment and apprenticeship initiatives. And Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne called for greater community involvement on a local level to curb the current trend.

Another politician, Tim Loughton MP got to experience this problem first hand during his appearance on Tower Block of Commons. While a series of one-hour programmes of course cannot shed enough light on this issue, it did manage to bring attention to the depth of the problem.

It suggested that a mixed approach, with early detection, youth activation, and local care and involvement, were all necessary. And then, failing this, tougher punishments with serious rehabilitation efforts.