Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take in response to Home Office figures which show an increase in the number of deaths as a result of knife crime amongst under 19s.

Our work to tackle knife crime is centred on four key strands: working with the police on operations and enforcement; work on the legislative framework; to work with retailers on responsible sales of knives; and early intervention and prevention.

We are encouraging police forces to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. It includes targeted stop and searches, weapon sweeps, test purchases of knives from retailers, the use of surrender bins, and educational activities. A record thirty-two police forces took part in the week of action in July.

We have agreed a set of commitments with major retailers to prevent the underage sales of knives in their stores and online. The agreement also covers staff training and displays and packaging.

We are keeping the legislative framework under review and we have taken action to ban zombie knives in August 2016. In addition on 14 October we launched a consultation on new legislation on offensive weapons. The proposals include placing restrictions on the online sale of knives, creating a new offence of possession of an offensive or dangerous weapon in a private place, and updating existing legislation. We have launched a community fund to support local communities to tackle knife crime.

We are also supporting youth violence intervention and prevention work in hospital emergency departments including supporting the voluntary sector organisation, Redthread, undertake work in London hospitals and pilots its approach shortly in Nottingham and Birmingham.