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<p>This Government is determined to turn the tide on knife crime in all areas, wherever
it occurs.</p><p> </p><p>On 4 February 2021, the Government published a total police
funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion in 2021/22, an increase of up to £636 million
compared to 2020/21. Across England and Wales, we are also recruiting 20,000 additional
police officers by the end of March 2023.</p><p>From 2019 to 2022, this government
will have provided over £242 million, through the Serious Violence Fund (SVF), to
address the drivers of serious violence at the local level and significantly bolster
the police response in 18 Police Force areas most affected by serious violence across
England and Wales.</p><p>We have also invested £200 million through the 10-Year Youth
Endowment Fund to ensure those most at risk are given the opportunity to turn away
from violence and lead positive lives.</p><p>We have also made it easier for the police
to use enhanced stop and search powers and we have introduced Serious Violence Reduction
Orders (SVROs) in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill which will
give the police powers to make it easier to stop and search those already convicted
of knife and offensive weapon offences.</p><p> </p><p>Through the PCSC bill, we have
also introduced legislation which will place new duties on a range of specified agencies
across different sectors, such as local government, youth offending, and health and
probation, to work collaboratively, share data and information, and put in place plans
to prevent and reduce serious violence.</p><p> </p><p>The Offensive Weapons Act 2019
includes specific measures for knife offences, in particular making it an offence
to possess certain offensive weapons in private, and stopping 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 would not be delivered
into the hands of a person under 18. The measures on knives in the Act also include:</p><p>
</p><ul><li>changing the legal definition for threatening with an offensive weapon
to make prosecutions more straightforward;</li><li>banning the possession of a knife
on a further education premises;</li><li>updating the definition of a flick knife
to reflect changing weapon designs;</li><li>introducing Knife Crime Prevention Orders
(KCPOs) to help the police target those most at risk of being drawn into serious violence,
to set them on a more positive path.</li></ul>
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