Minister for Policing and Crime (): As part of the Government's
aim to halve knife crime within a decade, and in line with its
manifesto commitment, the previous Home Secretary commissioned
Commander Stephen Clayman, the National Police Chiefs Council
knife crime lead, to conduct a review of online sales of knives.
The ‘Independent End-to-End Review of Online Knife
Sales'1 was published on 19 February and made a number
of recommendations, including the introduction of a registration
scheme for sellers and importers of knives. The Government
accepted the most important recommendations immediately and this
included legislating in the Crime and Policing Bill for stronger
age checks for online sales and delivery of knives and the
reporting by retailers of bulk purchases of knives online. The
Government also committed to launching a public consultation to
explore whether registration for sellers, in the form of a
licensing scheme, should be put in place for anyone selling
knives, whether online or offline.
The consultation will launch today, and it will run for a
10-weeks period closing on Tuesday 24 February 2026.
A copy of the consultation and related options assessment will be
placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament and
published on Gov.UK(opens in a new tab).
[1] Independent end-to-end review of
online knife sales -
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-end-to-end-review-of-online-knife-sales
