Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many knives and other offensive weapons have been surrendered through police knife surrender schemes in (a) Bedfordshire, (b) Cambridgeshire and (c) Hertfordshire in each of the last three years.

The Home Office has undertaken three knife and weapons surrender schemes since 2024: the Zombie-Style Knives and Machetes Surrender and Compensation Scheme from 25 August to 23 September 2024; the Ninja Sword Surrender and Compensation Scheme and extended surrender scheme in July 2025; and most recently, the Knife and Weapons Surrender Scheme from 3 August to 31 August 2026. The schemes were supported by 37 Home Office funded surrender bins in London, West Midlands. Greater Manchester, and in 2026, a further 8 bins in South and West Yorkshire.

The Home Office does not keep data on the number of knives and weapons surrendered in individual police force areas including Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire. However, the total number of weapons surrendered through the surrender schemes in 2024 and 2025 is 47,795 and 7,512 respectively. The figures for the August 2026 Knife and Weapons Surrender Scheme will be published in due course.