Crime is a never-ending issue (5)
I believe the answer is:
arson
'crime' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a never-ending issue' is the wordplay.
'ending' says to take the final letters.
'issue' becomes 'son' (issue can mean someone's offspring).
The last letter of 'never' is 'r'.
'a'+'r'+'son'='ARSON'
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for arson that I've seen before include "Be pettish" , "Incendiarism" , "Fire-raising crime" , "Fire-raiser's crime" , "Crime of fire setting" .)