Six out of 10 retailers in some areas are breaking the law on underage knife sales, as funding to prosecute rogue sellers runs dry, the LGA has warned.
Away from the high street, 41 per cent of UK-based online knife retailers made illegal sales to under-18s in a test purchase operation, while shop staff are selling knives to children as young as 14. With a House of Commons debate on serious violence taking place today, the LGA has warned that the dedicated Home Office Prosecutions Fund, set up as part of the Serious Violence Strategy, will not provide enough help to trading standards teams to enforce breaches of knife sales in the longer term.
Councils’ trading standards teams are also concerned they do not have the necessary resources to enforce new responsibilities under the Offensive Weapons Bill, aimed at tackling a surge in violent crime by targeting acid and knife sales, set to become law later this year. Cllr Simon Blackburn, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said the “shocking” findings were contributing to the “tragic epidemic” of knife crime.
He said:
“The retail supply of knives and acids needs to be managed robustly across all sales points, and retailers must ask for proof of age if they suspect the buyer is under 25. The prosecutions fund announced in the serious violence strategy has helped some councils prosecute retailers for blatant breaches of knife sale laws. However, given the knife crime epidemic, the significant cuts to trading standards budgets and the extra enforcement activity that will be needed when the offensive weapons bill becomes law, this fund needs urgent further investment and extending to many more councils to tackle illegal knife sales and protect people from harm.”