Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of knife offences in Havering in each of the last five years.

Data published by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London shows that offences involving knives in Havering have increased over the last five years, and at a faster rate than for the Metropolitan Police Service overall.

Havering

2014 155
2015 182
2016 179
2017 336
2018 339

MPS overall

Year ending September 2014 9508
Year ending September 2015 10024
Year ending September 2016 10513
Year ending September 2017 13723
Year ending September 2018 14788

The Government is very concerned about recent increases in knife crime and its impact on victims, families and communities. The action we are taking is set out in our Serious Violence Strategy and includes new legislation in the Offensive Weapons Bill, currently in Parliament, and continuing police action on knife crime under Operation Sceptre.

We have amended the Bill to introduce Knife Crime Prevention Orders, which will help prevent young people from carrying knives. The Strategy includes a strong focus on prevention and early intervention to stop young people being drawn into violent crime.

We are supporting early intervention and prevention with children and young people through the Early Intervention Youth Fund of £22 million, which is already supporting 29 projects across England and Wales. Over £17 million has already been allocated to projects delivering interventions to young people at risk of criminal involvement, gang exploitation and county lines. We are also supporting 68 small community projects this year through £1.5 million from the anti-knife crime Community Fund, one of which is working in local schools in Romford, Barking, Dagenham, Ilford and Redbridge.