Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support campaign organisations in promoting awareness of the dangers of knife crime in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission.
As part of this mission, we have launched the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime. The Coalition brings together campaign groups, families of people who have tragically lost their lives to knife crime, young people who have been impacted and community leaders, united in their mission to save lives and make Britain a safer place for all.
The Coalition includes representation from charities who work across Surrey and provide advice and expertise to the Government as it takes action to halve knife crime in a decade.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support community-based knife crime prevention programmes in Bradford.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission. Driving down youth-related violence across the UK, including in Bradford, will play a key role in meeting this ambition.
Through the Young Futures Programme, the Government will introduce Prevention Partnerships across the country, including in West Yorkshire, to intervene earlier and ensure that children and young people vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.
As we design the Young Futures Programme, we will ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs). VRUs bring together partners, including from the voluntary and community sector, to understand and tackle the drivers of serious violence in their area.
In 2025/26 the Home Office is investing over £4.3m in grant funding to the West Yorkshire VRU, alongside £169k to continue the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty. This funding will support delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle youth offending in Eastbourne.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2025/26 the Home Office is investing over £1.04m in grant funding to the Sussex Violence Reduction Unit, alongside £269k to continue the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty. This funding will support delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes, which includes the continuation of a Focussed Deterrence intervention in East Sussex. This project is targeted at young people who carry knives and provides them with tailored multi-agency support to desist from violence, alongside enforcement measures.
We are also investing more than £43m in the County Lines Programme this financial year to target exploitative drug dealing gangs and break the organised crime groups behind the trade. Through our County Lines Programme, we are funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate the national law enforcement response. We also have a dedicated fund to help local police forces, including Sussex Police, tackle the scourge of county lines.
Going further, the Young Futures Programme is a key part of the Safer Streets Mission and will help deliver the Government’s target to halve knife crime over the next decade. Under this programme the Government will intervene earlier, to ensure Children and Young People (CYP) who are facing poorer outcomes and are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way. The programme also aims to create more support and opportunities for them in their communities.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 53866 on Knives: Crime, if she will list the (a) names of members and (b) organisations they represent of the coalition to tackle knife crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Coalition brings together a diverse range of stakeholders, including community leaders, campaigners, bereaved families, young people affected by knife crime, and subject matter experts, who contribute to shaping policy in key areas
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase the use of stop and search to tackle knife crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Stop and search remains a fundamental tool for tackling knife crime, exercised fairly and effectively. Police officers have the power to stop and search individuals or vehicles for offensive weapons, provided they have reasonable grounds to suspect they will find the item.
In addition, where serious violence has occurred, or where intelligence suggests it may occur, a senior police officer may authorise police to stop and search any individual or vehicle for weapons, with or without reasonable suspicion. These authorisations are limited to a particular area for a specific period of time, usually no longer than 24 hours but may be extended to up to 48 hours in certain circumstances.
The operational use of these powers is a matter for individual police forces, based on local intelligence and community needs. Police powers must always be exercised fairly and effectively.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce knife crime in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and we are determined to tackle the scourge of serious knife crime on our streets.
To date, we have implemented a ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes and a ban on ninja swords will come into effect from 1 August 2025. We will also be running an extended surrender scheme in July to allow knives and offensive weapons to be handed in safely and securely. Limiting the availability and accessibility of knives and dangerous and illegal weapons is a central part of our work.
To that end, we have also announced “Ronan’s Law”, following an independent review into online knife sales by Commander Stephen Clayman, the national policing lead on knife crime, which set out a range of measures including strengthening age verification and delivery checks and reporting bulk sales to the police. These changes are now included in the Crime and Policing Bill currently passing through Parliament.
In the Crime and Policing Bill, we are also increasing the penalties for illegal sales of knives, creating a new offence of possessing a knife with the intention to commit unlawful violence and providing the police with a new power to seize knives when they believe they are likely to be used in connection with unlawful violence.
In Nottinghamshire, the Government has allocated c.£1.5m for the Hotspot Action Fund in 2025-2026 to deliver high visibility patrolling and problem-oriented policing tactics in the areas with the highest densities of knife crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (‘hotspots’).
Through our Young Futures Programme, the Government will introduce Prevention Partnerships across the country, including in Nottinghamshire, to intervene earlier and ensure that children and young people who are vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.
As we continue to design the Young Futures Programme, we want to ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) in this regard. In 2025/26 we are investing £47m via the Home Office in core grant funding to VRUs, including making over £1.1m available to the Nottinghamshire VRU this year.
This funding will support the delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes, such as youth workers in custody, school and community settings, sports programmes, mentoring, healthy relationships programmes, and intensive cognitive behavioural therapies for individuals involved in or at risk of serious violence, to divert young people away from crime.
A further £14.3m in grant funding has been made available across all 43 local policing body areas to deliver the Serious Violence Duty with £139k available to Nottinghamshire.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to introduce mandatory prison sentences for carrying bladed articles.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
This Government is committed to tackling knife crime as a priority. We are clear that those who carry knives unlawfully must face serious consequences, and that sentencing must reflect the harm these offences cause to victims and communities.
In recognition of the seriousness of offences related to knives, the courts already have robust powers to deal with knife-related offences. The maximum sentence for possession of a bladed article or threatening with an offensive weapon is 4 years’ imprisonment. The law also provides for minimum custodial sentences for repeat knife possession and for threatening with a weapon. Adults convicted of a second or subsequent possession offence face a minimum of six months in custody, while those aged 16 or 17 face a four-month Detention and Training Order. Where someone is actually harmed by a knife or offensive weapon, there are a range of offences that the offender may be charged with, such as causing grievous bodily harm. These can result in lengthy sentences, up to life imprisonment.
Minimum and mandatory sentences are also rare in England and Wales. This is because it is, rightly, the function of the independent judiciary to decide the sentence in each case subject to the maximum that Parliament has provided and any relevant Sentencing Guidelines published by the Sentencing Council.
The existing framework provides the right balance between ensuring robust penalties for knife crime, and allowing courts to tailor sentences to the individual case.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will introduce a minimum 5-year mandatory sentence for adults convicted of carrying a knife.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Tackling knife crime is a priority and this Government is determined to do all it can to break the deadly cycle of violence that devastates the lives of individuals, families, and communities. It is important that those who commit violent crimes receive appropriate, proportionate and robust sentences.
Minimum sentences are rare in England and Wales. It is the function of the independent courts to decide the sentence in each case subject to the maximum that Parliament has provided and any relevant Sentencing Guidelines published by the Sentencing Council. We have a robust legal framework in place to respond to knife crimes with the maximum penalty for carrying a knife or threatening with an offensive weapon being 4 years imprisonment.
In recognition of the seriousness of offences related to knives, the law already provides for minimum custodial sentences for repeat knife possession and offences that involve threatening with a weapon. Adults face a minimum of 6 months of imprisonment whilst young people aged 16 or 17 face a four-month Detention and Training Order. Where someone is actually harmed by a knife or offensive weapon, there are a range of offences that the offender may be charged with, such as causing grievous bodily harm. These can result in lengthy sentences, up to life imprisonment.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timeline is for introducing legislation to prohibit the sale of sharp-pointed kitchen and utility knives for domestic use; and what steps she is taking to ensure that large online retailers comply with any such future restrictions.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government’s mission to halve knife crime over a decade will be delivered through tougher enforcement and stronger prevention, and we are actively considering a range of options to achieve those goals, further details of which will be set out in the normal way in due course.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support community groups in Milton Keynes to prevent youth involvement in violent crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission. Driving down youth-related violence across the UK, including in Milton Keynes, will play a key role in meeting this ambition.
Through the Young Futures Programme, the Government will introduce Prevention Partnerships across the country, including in Thames Valley, to intervene earlier and ensure that children and young people vulnerable to being drawn into crime are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.
As we design the Young Futures Programme, we will ensure that it learns from and builds on the work of the Violence Reduction Units (VRUs). VRUs bring together partners, including representatives from local education institutions and from the voluntary and community sector, to understand and tackle the drivers of serious violence in their area.
In 2025/26 the Home Office is investing £1.5m in grant funding to Thames Valley VRU, alongside £280k to continue the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty.
This funding will support delivery of a range of early intervention and prevention programmes, which includes continuation of a Focussed Deterrence intervention in Milton Keynes. This project will be targeted at young people who carry knives and providing them with tailored multi-agency support to desist from violence, alongside enforcement measures. Funding will also support the development and roll out of training for parents, schools and community groups in Thames Valley on the signs of criminal exploitation, in order that young people at risk are identified and supported.
Alongside investment in local violence prevention approaches, we are also committed to removing weapons from our streets. Stop and search is a vital tool for tackling crime. Last year 16,066 stop and searches led to offensive weapons or firearms being found and taken off our streets.
On 24 September 2024 we implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes, and from 1 August 2025 it will also be illegal to sell or own ninja swords. We have announced “Ronan’s Law” a range of measures which will include stricter rules for online sellers of knives including strengthening age verification controls and checks through a two-stage age verification system at the point of purchase and on delivery, and we are also intending to consult later this year on a registration scheme for online sellers of knives.
With measures in the Crime and Policing Bill 2025 we are increasing the penalties for illegal sales of knives, creating a new offence of possessing a knife with the intention to commit unlawful violence and are giving the police a new power to seize knives when they believe they are likely to be used in connection with unlawful violence.