Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Merseyside Police on tackling (a) violent and (b) knife-related crime.

Tackling knife crime and violence is a top priority for the Government.

We are already taking action to get dangerous weapons off the street. We have banned Zombie style knives and zombie style machetes, and the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes became illegal on 24 September 2024. We will also be taking action to ban ninja swords in line with our manifesto commitment and a review of online sales of knives is currently being conducted by the national police lead, Commander Clayman, at the request of the Home Secretary.

We will also create a new Young Futures programme - intervening earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most and we will be introducing Prevention Partnerships and Young Futures Hubs to help deliver this.

In addition, we are working closely with policing partners, including Merseyside Police, and we will be looking to initiatives such as the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership that works with a range of local agencies to deliver preventative interventions.