Oral Answers to Questions

Glyn Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

2. What recent discussions he has had with the Attorney General on the prosecution of people who carry knives.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

9. What recent discussions he has had with the Attorney General on the prosecution of people who carry knives.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Robert Buckland)]

I work closely with the Attorney General and Home Office Ministers to ensure that the criminal justice system commands public confidence and tackles crime effectively. To address this and other serious crimes, we are recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers, investing £85 million in the Crown Prosecution Service and building an additional 10,000 prison places, and this is together with the work of police and crime commissioners in setting up violence reduction units.

[Glyn Davies]

The best way to prevent knife crime is to take knives out of circulation and off the streets. What steps is my right hon. and learned Friend taking in conjunction with the Attorney General to ensure that people who carry knives are prosecuted?

[Robert Buckland]

Of course, the prosecuting authorities take knife crime incredibly seriously. In 2015, minimum custodial sentences of six months for repeat knife crime possession were introduced, and in the year ending March of this year 83% of offenders received a custodial sentence for that type of repeat offence.