The cross-party House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny
Committee has raised concerns about the Government’s proposals to
ban ‘zombie-style’ knives.
The Committee flags its concerns about the Draft Criminal
Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and
Compensation) Order 2024 in its latest
report, questioning the policy’s likely
effectiveness in removing weapons from the streets and reducing
crime, as well as its value for money.
The draft Order would introduce a ban on certain types of
‘zombie-style’ knives and machetes, which the police have
described as “weapons of choice for youths with criminal
intentions”. The Order is intended to plug what the Government
describes as a “loophole” in a similar law introduced in 2016,
which knife suppliers have evaded by redesigning the weapons. The
Committee notes that the Order includes a precise definition of
the weapons to be banned which could, again, lead those likely to
use the weapons simply to find other types of knife, not subject
to the ban, that are equally dangerous.
The draft Order also includes a surrender and compensation regime
so that people currently owning these weapons lawfully can hand
them in safely and receive back their value. The Committee had a
number of concerns about this scheme, including its value for
money, as the Home Office expected administration costs of
£301,000 to pay out compensation of just £14,000 (with an
estimated 472 knives being surrendered). In addition, the
combination of a payment per weapon of £10 but a minimum claim of
£30 may be inadequate to persuade owners of only one or two
knives from surrendering them as they would be unable to claim
any payments for doing so.
The Committee also criticise the Government for poor explanatory
material on the Order. For example, the initial Explanatory
Memorandum did not mention the surrender and compensation scheme.
Moreover, the Committee identified a significant error in the
press release accompanying the Order, which stated that “anyone
in possession of one of these
knives will face time behind bars”,
when in fact this is not the policy: someone in
possession may face time behind bars,
depending on factors such as whether or not it is their first
offence. The press release was corrected, but only after 12 days.
The Committee also question whether the emphasis on custodial
punishment in the press release was consistent with the IA’s
statement that the impact of the policy on prison places would be
“negligible”.
Overall, the Committee questions whether appropriate weight had
been given to the impact information in the formulation and
design of the policy. The Committee notes recent initiatives
under the Better Regulation Framework to give greater weight to
consideration of impacts earlier in the policymaking process and
concludes that this draft Order may be an example of why such a
change is needed.
, Member of the Secondary
Legislation Scrutiny Committee said:
“Everyone agrees that zombie-style knives should not be on the
streets but it is important that policies in this area are
effective and not just headline grabbing.
"We appreciate the difficulty of formulating policy in this very
complex area. We have seen previous attempts at banning dangerous
knives fall short of their desired outcome because the weapons to
be prohibited have been tightly defined and those who wish to own
them have simply turned to slightly different designs. The
Government has taken a similar approach again and, while we agree
with the intention not to outlaw tools held for legitimate use,
the Home Office should be vigilant in case other forms of weapon
become more prevalent. If that happens, the Government should
consider its overall approach.
“We understand that the Government is keen to progress this
legislation quickly, but that should not come at the expense of
providing full and accurate information to Parliament and the
public. Putting out a press release with a significant factual
error is simply not acceptable. Moreover, when more comprehensive
data on the cost and expected impact of this policy was made
available to us, it raised questions about the policy design.
“Overall, we found the explanatory material laid with the draft
Regulations did not provide a clear enough picture of the
objective of the policy and how it would be implemented in
practice.”
Notes to Editors
- The draft Criminal
Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and
Compensation) Order 2024 was laid by the Home Office on 25
January 2024.
- The Regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure,
which means that both Houses of Parliament must approve them
before they can become law. If agreed, they will come into effect
the day after they are approved.
- New Better Regulation Framework
guidance, issued in September 2023, is intended to improve
the way that regulatory provisions are considered and
scrutinised. It includes changes designed to lead to “earlier
and more holistic scrutiny of regulatory proposals through
consideration of wider impacts”.
