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1700079

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the enforcement of regulations on the sale of bladed items (a) to and (b) by persons under the age of 18.
	tabling member constituency	Arfon
	tabling member printed	Hywel Williams
	uin	20903
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2024 answer text <p>Since 2019, the Home Office has provided over £5 million of funding for a Violence Reduction Unit in Wales (known as the Wales Violence Prevention Unit (VPU)) which is providing a multi-agency, preventative response designed to tackle the drivers of serious violence and knife crime. Over the same period, we have invested c.£3.5 million (including c.£535k in 2023/24) in ‘hotspot policing’ to boost the policing response to serious violence in South Wales. In 24/25, we are providing c.£4.4 million of funding to all force areas in Wales under the Hotspot Response fund to deliver high-visibility patrols and problem-solving tactics in the streets and neighbourhoods worst affected by serious violence and Anti Social Behaviour.</p><p>The Wales VPU is tasked with investing in evidence-based approaches designed to steer vulnerable young people away from involvement in violence. As part of this approach, the VPU is funding local interventions including A&amp;E Navigators, delivering advice, support and guidance to patients of any age who have experienced violence with injury, with the aim of engaging with those injured whilst they are in hospital to help break the cycle of violence at the point of crisis. The VPU is also funding youth workers to deliver sessions to young people within both education and community settings covering issues such as knife crime. Additionally, just under £1m was awarded in 2023/24 to support delivery of the Serious Violence Duty across Wales.</p><p>We have also introduced new legislation which, subject to parliamentary approval, will ban zombie-style knives and machetes from 24 September 2024. Through the Criminal Justice Bill 2023, we are providing more powers for police to seize knives held in private that they believe will be used for unlawful violence, increasing the maximum penalty for the offences of selling prohibited weapons and selling knives to under 18s and creating a new offence of possessing an article with blade or point or an offensive weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence.</p><p>It is an offence to sell bladed articles to people under the age of 18 and with measures in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 we strengthened the requirements for age verification, and made it an offence to send bladed articles to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18. This legislation is enforced by Trading Standards and the police. The Home Office does not hold enforcement data in relation to breaches of this legislation.</p><p>The Online Safety Act 2023 has finished its parliamentary passage and received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. The Government's intention is to have the regime operational as soon as possible.</p><p>Ofcom published the first draft codes of practice on illegal content for consultation on 9 November 2023. The Government expects these to be finalised in late 2024. These codes of practice will set out the steps companies can take to fulfil the duties for illegal content. In scope services will either need to follow these codes, or show their approach is equally effective. Tech companies will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content. This means less illegal content online and when it does appear it will be removed quicker.</p><p>Schedule 7 of the Act sets out a series of priority offences which includes the sale of weapons. Companies will need to take particularly robust action to prevent the proliferation of this content online and ensure that their services are not used for offending. This means companies will need to proactively mitigate the risk that their services are used for illegal activity or to share this illegal content, to design their services to mitigate the risk of this occurring and to remove any content that does appear as soon as they are made aware of it.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp grouped question UIN 20904 question first answered 17/04/2024 15:22:25 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
	tabling member	1397 label Biography information for Hywel Williams

1402243

	registered interest
	date	12/01/2022
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2021 to Question 18468 on Knives: Sales, if she will introduce a licensing scheme for the possession of machetes.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
	tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
	uin	102553
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2022 answer text <p>The majority of machete owners use them for legitimate reasons such as gardening, camping or agricultural use. It is an offence to sell any machete to a person who is under the age of 18. In addition, possessing a machete in a public place without lawful authority or good reason is also an offence with a maximum penalty of 4 years imprisonment.</p><p>Where a machete is misused as a 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, including life imprisonment in instances of murder.</p><p>We continue to keep the legislation in this area under review.</p><p>In 2021 we banned a whole range of knives weapons and firearms and existing legislation prohibits possession of any machete or large knife in a public place without good reason. We are always working with police to see what further action is needed to take deadly weapons off the street.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 17/01/2022 16:18:15 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

1338159

	registered interest
	date	18/06/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason it is legal to sell machetes; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
	tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
	uin	18468
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2021 answer text <p>Keeping people safe is the Government’s top priority, including from violent crime involving the misuse of knives and other offensive weapons.</p><p> </p><p>Under provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is unlawful to sell a machete to a person under the age of 18 and it is also an offence to have a machete in a public place without lawful authority or good reason.</p><p> </p><p>Under the provisions of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 we are introducing further measures to address crime involving bladed items including stopping bladed items being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18.</p><p> </p><p>The majority of machete owners use them for legitimate reasons such as gardening, camping or agricultural use. Where a machete is misused as a 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, including life imprisonment in instances of murder.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to keep the legislation on bladed articles and offensive weapons under review.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 23/06/2021 10:27:29 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

1304626

	registered interest
	date	22/03/2021
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require that knives sold in shops are kept locked in secure cabinets.
	tabling member constituency	Twickenham
	tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
	uin	173177
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2021 answer text <p>During the passage of the Offensive Weapons Bill, we considered whether to make it a criminal offence for businesses to display a bladed product and whether shops should keep knives locked in secure cabinets. We concluded that we could achieve the same aim by working closely with retailers to ensure that knives cannot be easily stolen in order to circumvent age verification processes.</p><p>We continue to work with retailers, local authorities and the police to send a clear message that retailers have a responsibility to sell and display bladed articles in a responsible manner. The Government are encouraging much stronger voluntary action in relation to displays through the set of voluntary commitments with major retailers to prevent the underage sales of knives. These commit retailers to having robust measures in place to ensure age verification and both appropriate display and access to knives in stores. Retailers also act to ensure customers and staff are reminded that knives are age restricted products and that all staff receive regular training. Since March 2016, 19 major retailed have joined the agreement, with some stopping the sale of single knives in their stores altogether.</p><p>We are keeping this work under review and we will work with retailers within the framework of the voluntary agreement on sales of knives to include stronger voluntary action on displays once we commence some provisions in the Offensive Weapons Act which were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 26/03/2021 14:04:37 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson

1175400

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2020
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ban the sale of machetes and large knives with serrated or other edges that do not already come under the existing classification of zombie knives.
	tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
	uin	HL1214
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>Keeping people safe is the Government’s top priority, including from violent crime involving the misuse of knives and other offensive weapons. This is why the law makes it an offence to carry a knife in public without good reason, makes it an offence to sell to under 18s and why a number of knives and offensive weapons, including zombie knives, are banned.</p><p>The Government does not currently have plans to ban any additional, specific types of knives, but we do keep the law under review and the Government will not hesitate to take action if needed. This is why we have strengthened the law on knives and other offensive weapons, through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. The Act will make it an offence to possess certain offensive weapons in private, it will stop knives being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product will not be delivered to an under 18. The Act will also:</p><ul><li>change the legal definition for threatening with an offensive weapon to make prosecutions more straightforward;</li></ul><ul><li>ban the possession of knives on a further education premises;</li><li>update the definition of a flick knife to reflect changing weapon designs;</li></ul><p>and</p><ul><li>introduce Knife Crime Prevention Orders to help the police target those most at risk of being drawn into serious violence.</li></ul><p>The Government also works with retailers to encourage responsible sales of knives. We have agreed a set of commitments with eighteen major high-street and online retailers to prevent the sale of knives to under-18s, which cover staff training, displays, and packaging. We are continuing to work with retailers to stop knives getting into the hands of young people.</p><p>We have also committed to introducing a new court order to target known knife carriers and make it easier for the police to stop and search those convicted of knife crime offences, to deter them from continuing to carry knives, and to make it more likely that those who persist in doing so will be caught, brought before the courts, and sent to prison.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 13/02/2020 14:12:45 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

1145154

	registered interest
	date	05/09/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to bring forward legislative proposals to restrict the sale of toy knives.
	tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
	tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
	uin	287666
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/10/2019 answer text <p>It is illegal to sell knives and certain articles with blade or point to anyone under 18 in England and Wales, by virtue of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. To go further in preventing the sale of knives to under 18s, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 includes a provision that will stop knives from being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18.</p><p>The definition of knife in the Criminal Justice Act includes any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed and made or adapted for use in causing injury to a person. These words carry their normal meaning and we expect retailers to act responsibly and to consider carefully whether an item could commonly be defined as a knife.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 03/10/2019 16:49:48 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
	tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1123081

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the level of availability of knives on social media shopping apps.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	247622
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises that the online purchase of goods and services can take different forms, and that social media shopping apps may be one of the methods for obtaining items, including knives. This is why the law relating to the sale of knives to under 18s applies equally to in-store and online purchases. In addition, through the Offensive Weapons Bill, currently awaiting Royal Assent, we will stop knives being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product will not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18. This will help to ensure that purchasers cannot circumvent the existing law by buying knives online.</p><p>We have also agreed a set of commitments with major retailers to prevent the underage sales of knives more generally in their stores and online. The agreement also covers staff training and displays and packaging. Tesco, eBay UK, Lidl UK, Amazon UK, Wilko, Argos, Asda, Poundland, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis and Waitrose have all signed up to the principles. They have since been joined by Boots, the Co-op, B&amp;Q, Aldi, TKMaxx and Debenhams. We are working with retailers to strengthen the agreement in relation to displays and that work is continuing. Following on from this, Asda have announced that they will stop selling single knives in its stores by the end of April, a move supported by the Government.</p><p>In addition, on 17 June 2018 the Home Secretary announced funding of £1.4m to support a new national police capability to tackle gang related activity on social media. The hub will be fully operational by the end of May 2019.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 03/05/2019 13:52:59 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1110679

	registered interest
	date	09/04/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the online sale of machetes in the UK.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Brady
	uin	HL15143
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2019 answer text <p>In 2016, the Government agreed a set of commitments with major retailers to prevent the underage sales of knives, including machetes, in their stores and online. This also covered staff training, the display and packaging of knives. A number of major retailers have signed up to this, including Tesco, eBay UK, Lidl UK, Amazon UK, Wilko, Argos, Asda, Poundland, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, Waitrose, Boots, the Co-op, B&amp;Q, Aldi, TKMaxx and Debenhams. We continue to work with retailers to strengthen the agreement, including in relation to the display of these products in stores.</p><p><br>It is an offence to sell articles with a blade, which includes machetes, to a person under 18, whether that be face to face or online. In addition, the Offensive Weapons Bill will further strengthen the law, with specific new knives offences, including making it an offence to possess certain offensive weapons in private, and stopping bladed products being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online unless the seller has made arrangements with a delivery person or company not to hand that item over to a person under 18 at that address.</p><p>This means that businesses will still be able to sell and dispatch bladed products, which could include machetes, to residential addresses, but they will need to have the necessary arrangements in place to ensure that their products are not delivered into the hands of anyone aged under 18.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 24/04/2019 14:24:52 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
	tabling member	4339 label Biography information for Baroness Brady

927832

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2018
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how his Department plans to prevent the sale and purchase of machetes and other dangerous knives.
	tabling member constituency	Bridgend
	tabling member printed	Mrs Madeleine Moon
	uin	155715
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2018 answer text <p>It is already an offence under Section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to manufacture, import, sell and supply offensive weapons. The list of offensive weapons is below:<br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives</a><br>In addition, it is an offence under Section 141(A) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to sell articles with blade or point to a person under 18. <br>On 20 June we introduced an Offensive Weapons Bill which includes measures which will stop knives being sent to residential addresses after they have been bought online and will make it an offence to possess certain weapons in private.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 28/06/2018 14:31:46 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	1490 label Biography information for Mrs Madeleine Moon

772243

	registered interest
	date	17/10/2017
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Knives: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people who purchase knives for work-related purposes will be made exempt from the proposed ban on online knife sales.
	tabling member constituency	Ceredigion
	tabling member printed	Ben Lake
	uin	108102
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2017 answer text <p>On 14 October we launched a public consultation on new legislation on offensive and dangerous weapons. This includes the proposal that where a knife is sold online it is an offence to deliver the knife to a private residential address. This is intended to apply to online sales of knives so we can prevent knives being sold to under 18s online. However, the proposal will not prevent knives being sold online and instead being collected from a place where the age and identity of the purchaser can be checked or from being delivered to a non-residential address such as a business. We recognise that knives are essential in everyday life at home and at work and this proposal does not change that.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 24/10/2017 14:01:59 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4630 label Biography information for Ben Lake