The Home Office is consulting on legislative measures to provide the police with more tools to disrupt knife possession and tackle knife crime.

This is a consultation open to the public and targeted to directly affected parties, including the police, Crown Prosecution Service, community groups, businesses, and organisations with a direct interest in the proposals. As valued partners of the VRU, we would encourage your participation in the consultation, your insights and experience relating to these issues will be key in encouraging change. As part of our ongoing commitment to the Serious Violence Duty, a partnership response involving a range of lead agencies such as yourselves is key.  

The consultation is open, and you can respond directly by 6^th June 2023 by –

• Completing the online form at: https://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/knife-legislation/

In summary, the Home Office are seeking views on the following proposals:

• Proposal 1: Introduction of a targeted ban of certain types of large knives that seem to be designed to look menacing with no practical purpose.
• Proposal 2: Whether additional powers should be given to the police to seize, retain and destroy lawfully held bladed articles of a certain length if these are found by the police when in private property lawfully and they have reasonable grounds to believe that the article(s) are likely to be used in a criminal act.
• Proposal 3: Whether there is a need to increase the maximum penalty for the importation, manufacture, sale and supply of prohibited offensive weapons (s141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and s1 Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959) and the offence of selling bladed articles to persons under 18 (s141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988) to 2 years, to reflect the severity of these offences.
• Proposal 4: Whether the Criminal Justice System should treat possession in public of prohibited knives and offensive weapons more seriously.
• Proposal 5: Whether there is a need for a separate possession offence of bladed articles with the intention to injure or cause fear of violence with a maximum penalty higher than the current offence of possession of an offensive weapon under s1 of the PCA 1953.

For more information please visit: Consultation on new knife legislation proposals to tackle the use of machetes and other bladed articles in crime (accessible) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)