Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on small online businesses of proposed changes to the online sale of knives.

Tackling knife crime is a priority for the Government and we are taking action. Our approach is centred on four key strands – early intervention and prevention, working with the police on operations and enforcement, work with retailers on responsible sales and work on the legislative framework. As part of this wide approach, on 18 July the Government announced its intention to consult on a number of proposals to tackle knife crime . The consultation respond to concerns about how some retailers are selling knives online. We will use the responses to the consultation to inform further work to assess the impact on these proposals.