Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce knife crime in rural areas.

We are already making clear progress against our ambition to halve knife crime. In our first year, police-recorded knife crime offences fell by 5%, the first reduction in four years.

Knife homicides have also fallen by almost 20% over the last year, and we have seen a 10% reduction in hospital admissions for stabbings.

Whilst most knife crime occurs in urban centres, our national target to halve knife crime and whole society approach will reach every area. Our approach to tackling knife crime is centred around targeted interventions and enforcement, tough new legislation to remove dangerous weapons from our streets and working across government to tackle the root causes of knife crime where they are needed most.

We have banned zombie knives and ninja swords and are holding online sellers criminally responsible removing almost 60,000 knives from streets in England and Wales. We are taking a range of action in the Crime and Policing Bill to strengthen legislation on knives.

New crime mapping tools are already allowing us to identify highly specific knife crime hotspots and focus police and community safety resources where they are needed most. Further investment in cutting-edge capabilities, such as knife detection technology, improved data platforms, and live facial recognition will further enhance our ability to target knife crime.

Our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will deliver 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament, including up to 3,000 by March 2026. It will also ensure that every community, including rural communities, has named and contactable officers they can turn to.

This Government is clear that when you report a crime, it should be properly investigated with victims having faith that justice will be delivered, and criminals will be punished – no matter where you live. Rural communities can be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities.