Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many zombie knives have been confiscated under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 since the commencement of that Act.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The manufacture, importation and sale of Zombie knives was prohibited by The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment) Order 2016, in England and Wales. The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 widened the offence to include the possession in private of zombie knives and other specified offensive weapons and extended the prohibition to Northern Ireland.
As part of the measures of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 we ran a surrender and compensation scheme, 14,965 offensive weapons were surrendered including 224 zombie type knives.
We are not planning to carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, however we keep all legislation under review in the interests of public safety and will update Parliament if there are specific changes the Government has in mind.
We are working closely with the police to see what more we can do to address the criminal use of large knives and machetes. Any future public consultation will be notified to parliament and published on .GOV and the scope of any items under consideration will be laid out in the consultation document. Public consultations are open to practitioners, stakeholders and members of the public.
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 for preventing the (a) sale and (b) possession of zombie knives.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The manufacture, importation and sale of Zombie knives was prohibited by The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment) Order 2016, in England and Wales. The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 widened the offence to include the possession in private of zombie knives and other specified offensive weapons and extended the prohibition to Northern Ireland.
As part of the measures of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 we ran a surrender and compensation scheme, 14,965 offensive weapons were surrendered including 224 zombie type knives.
We are not planning to carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, however we keep all legislation under review in the interests of public safety and will update Parliament if there are specific changes the Government has in mind.
We are working closely with the police to see what more we can do to address the criminal use of large knives and machetes. Any future public consultation will be notified to parliament and published on .GOV and the scope of any items under consideration will be laid out in the consultation document. Public consultations are open to practitioners, stakeholders and members of the public.
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of possession of a zombie knife under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 since the commencement of that Act.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions and convictions for various offences under the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 and Criminal Justice Act 1988, since 2019 in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2022.
Navigate to the ‘Prosecutions & Convictions’ tab and use the HO offence code filter to select the applicable offence:
However, whether the offences relate to possession of a zombie knife specifically is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings database. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.
Information on charges is held by the Home Office, however, they do not hold information on the ‘possession of a zombie knife’. The Home Office does collect and publish information on the number of ‘Possession of article with blade or point’ offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, and their investigative outcomes including charges here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on reducing serious violent crime.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling serious violence is a priority for this government. Through our twin-track approach, combining tough enforcement with programmes that divert young people away from crime, we are driving down levels of violent crime. And I’m proud that since 2010, violence is down 37% under this Conservative Government.
Since 2019, we have invested £340m in the areas most affected by violence, funding our ‘Grip’ hotspot policing programme and Violence Reduction Units to tackle the root causes of serious violence.
In their first three years of funded delivery, these programmes have collectively prevented an estimated 136,000 violence without injury offences.
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the amount of funds allocated to Blenheim Primary School in Leigh-on-Sea from the School Rebuilding Programme; when her Department expects to inform the School of the extent and details of their rebuild; and what estimate her Department has made of when that rebuilding work will commence.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The 239 schools that were announced in December 2022 as part of the School Rebuilding Programme, including Blenheim Primary School, will enter delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, over a five year period from April 2023.
The Department is currently undertaking due diligence on these schools before scheduling them, with schools prioritised according to the condition need of their buildings, their readiness to proceed and efficiency of delivery. The Department has written to all Responsible Bodies with an update on timescales and upcoming information sessions.
The funding for each project will depend on the works being undertaken. The scope of each project will be confirmed following a detailed feasibility study and condition surveys of buildings to confirm the work required. Projects are procured directly by the Department and contract values are published on Contracts Finder, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. These are usually published within 30 days of the contract being signed.
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will carry out a review of the procedure for granting licences for animal experiments to help ensure that the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 are being enforced.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Regulator for the use of animals in science fully implements the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 by following a published procedure for the granting of project licences.
The regulator has recently improved its processes and systems through a regulatory reform programme to assure compliance of establishments with the legislation.
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will develop an action plan for setting out how the widespread adoption of human relevant research techniques can be facilitated.
Answered by George Freeman
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, published the UK non-animal technologies roadmap in 2015 alongside the NC3Rs, the research councils and the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, setting out a long-term vision and strategy for non-animal technologies in the UK.
Innovate UK also supports innovative businesses in the development of non-animal technologies such as tumour organoids, stem cell-based disease models for drug discovery and research through programmes such as the Biomedical Catalyst and SMART, with additional infrastructure support provided through the Medicine Discovery Catapult.
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to consult Parliament on the future direction of UK fisheries management before publishing the final Joint Fisheries Statement in November 2022.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Fisheries Act 2020 requires each fisheries policy authority to lay a copy of the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) consultation draft before the appropriate legislature. This requirement was met on 17 January 2022. In parallel, the JFS was published for public consultation on 18 January.
Both parliamentary scrutiny and the consultation process concluded on 12 April. However, owing to the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly, scrutiny in Northern Ireland concluded on 25 March. Between now and November, we will be amending the JFS draft. During this time, Ministers remain open to engaging with Parliamentarians in the process to finalise the JFS.
Asked by: Anna Firth (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, following the consultation on the draft Joint Fisheries Statement, whether he has plans to consult Parliament on the future direction of UK fisheries management before publishing the final Joint Fisheries Statement in November 2022.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.