Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of encouraging retailers who sell knives to store them behind shop counters.

In 2016 we introduced a voluntary agreement with retailers on the responsible sale of knives. The agreement required retailers to apply their existing policies for age-restricted sales, such as ‘Think 21’ or ‘Think 25’ to ensure age verification checks take place, so that knives will only be sold (or supplied) where the retailer is satisfied that the customer is aged 18 or over. Action is to be taken in-store and online to remind customers and staff that knives are, by law, age-restricted products.

The agreement was revised following the passing of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, which received Royal Assent in May 2019. During the passage of the legislation through Parliament concerns were expressed about the display of knives and the revised agreement addresses those concerns.

Retailers will ensure knives are displayed and packaged securely as appropriate to minimise risk. This will include retailers taking practical and proportionate steps to restrict accessibility and avoid immediate use, to reduce the possibility of injury, and to prevent theft. Additionally, where local police identify an issue or have evidence that stolen knives present a risk in the local area where the store is located, the local police, can request additional measures such as secure packaging and display solutions which are proportionate to the level of risk.

Measures may include:

• Consideration of removing knives from display or keeping them away from public access in a safe and secure position.
• Displaying knives in a way that ensures that they cannot easily be stolen - for instance, by using approaches that require intervention from a member of staff in order to release the knife from secure display.
• Positioning knives in secure locations within the store and introducing improved arrangements for the safe display of kitchen knife blocks containing multiple knives in a box. This may require working with trade associations or manufacturers to improve packaging of such items or the introduction of dummy displays in-store.

Details of the agreement may be viewed at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers .

Finally, on 18 April we launched a 7-week consultation on new knife legislation proposals to tackle the use of machetes and other bladed articles in crime. We are consulting on legislative measures to provide the police with more tools to disrupt knife possession and tackle knife crime. The consultation is open to the public.