Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to extend the Serious Violence Reduction Orders pilot scheme; what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the scheme in Merseyside; and whether her Department has considered expanding the eligibility criteria to include people under the age of 18.

Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) were piloted for two years throughout Merseyside, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Midlands police force areas. The pilot took place between 19 April 2023 and 18 April 2025.

The final independent evaluation of the pilot will look to understand the effectiveness of SVROs in reducing reoffending and knife carrying. These insights will be critical in informing future decisions on whether the orders will be expanded or rolled out nationally.