Knives

(asked on 7th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will (a) make an assessment of the validity of September 2020 research on knives from De Montfort University and (b) bring forward legislative proposals on replacing pointed knives with rounded knives for domestic use.


Answered by
Kit Malthouse Portrait
Kit Malthouse
This question was answered on 10th September 2020

We continue to work with retailers to promote the responsible sales of knives. It is important to strike the right balance between allowing access to knives, for instance as tools, with the need to protect the public from dangerous weapons.

We are doing everything in our power to make our streets safer, including recruiting 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years and providing the most substantial increase in police funding in a decade. Additionally, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 introduced new knife crime prevention orders which were requested by the police and will provide them with a vital means to steer those most at risk away from serious violence.

£70 million of the Serious Violence Fund was invested in 18 areas to develop multi-agency Violence Reduction Units which bring together police, local government, health and education professionals, community leaders and other key partners to identify the drivers of serious violence and agree a multi-agency response to them. In addition to the Serious Violence Fund, we have invested £200 million in early intervention and prevention support initiatives to support young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund.

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