Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle knife crime in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

This Government is determined to turn the tide on knife crime in all areas, wherever it occurs.

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. West Midlands Police will receive up to £656.2m in 2021/22; an increase of up to £39.5m from the previous year. Across England and Wales we are also recruiting 20,000 additional police officers by the end of March 2023. West Midlands have recruited 357 additional officers under uplift against a first year allocation of 366 additional officers (as at 31 December 2020).

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. Of this, the West Midlands have been allocated £15.5 million to pay for a surge in police operational activity and a further £10.1 million to develop their Violence Reduction Unit.

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. In total, 12 grantees in the West Midlands are in receipt of funding from all grant rounds.

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. West Midlands Police is one of the four police forces in the country which will pilot SVROs.

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.