Tackling Knife Crime: Early Intervention, Building Community Trust and Establishing Robust Support Systems
Online
3rd Feb 2026 to 3rd Feb 2026
Date of Event: Tuesday, February 3rd 2026
Time of Event: 9:30 AM — 1:00 PM GMT
Place of Event: Webinar
Key Speakers
- Professor Niven Rennie, Chair of Hope Collective UK & former Director of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit
- Dr Sue Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Portsmouth
The recent Cambridgeshire train attack has brought into stark relief the challenge of knife crime in the UK and raises fresh questions as to what more can be done to tackle such violence. In the year ending March 2025, there were around 49,600 offences involving a sharp instrument in England and Wales (excluding Greater Manchester). This was down 1.5% on the 50,400 offences committed in in 2023/24 and lower than the 52,000 in 2019/20, however knife crime steadily increasing year on year from 2019/20 (41,700 incidents) until last year. In the year ending March 2024, Home Office data shows there were 262 using a sharp instrument in England and Wales. ONS data shows that in 2024/25, Metropolitan Police recorded the highest rate of 182 offences per 100,000 population. In contrast, Cumbria Police recorded the lowest rate of 31 offences per 100,000 population. A total of 28 homicides were committed by sharp instrument in Scotland from 2023 to 2024, and four in Northern Ireland in the same period.
The UK government is tackling knife crime through a multi-pronged approach, including legislative changes like the proposed Crime and Policing Bill, which introduces new offenses, increases penalties, and gives police more power to seize knives. They are also focusing on enforcement through measures like funding a national police unit to tackle online sales, increased knife surrender schemes, and bans on certain weapons. Additionally, the government is supporting preventative strategies through initiatives like the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime and funding the Youth Endowment Fund to support early intervention projects. According to the Home Office, “nearly 60,000 knives have been removed from streets in England and Wales through new knife surrender schemes and police operations.”
Whereas a decade ago the majority of knife crime committed by young people in the UK was related to gangs, this is no longer the case, according to James Alexander, Associate Enterprise Fellow in Criminology at London Metropolitan University. “There are people getting involved in knife crime, getting arrested for carrying knives or being stabbed or stabbing people that have got no criminal record whatsoever, no indications (that they might commit knife crimes),” Alexander said. An October 2025 briefing from the Local Government Association called knife crime a “multifaceted issue that cannot be solved through enforcement alone.” Deprivation, mental health issues, exclusion from school and family struggles can all contribute to a person’s involvement in knife crime, according to Professor Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, Director of the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Crime, Justice and Policing. Iain Overton, Executive Director of Action on Armed Violence, stresses that “The real work lies in prevention: through education, community investment, and early intervention.”
This symposium will provide stakeholders, including representatives from the police, NHS, schools, charities, and local authorities, with an opportunity to examine the underlying causes of knife crime and how these should be addressed and to formulate national and local strategies to bring about meaningful change. It will also offer delegates an opportunity to explore how practitioners from across the police service, education, health and third sector can improve collaboration and develop early intervention strategies to tackle knife crime.
Programme
- Examine current knife crime trends in the UK, assess government policy and police strategies in this area, and explore avenues for improvement
- Develop a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder national strategy for tackling knife crime
- Formulate tailored police knife crime strategies for a range of local circumstances
- Exchange views on whether improvements in stop and search can assist in tackling knife crime
- Understand the link between poverty and deprivation and the spread of knife crime and how these wider socio-economic challenges can be addressed
- Evaluate current challenges in accessing mental health services and the provision of wrap-around social service early interventions for vulnerable adults and young people and how improvements in these areas can help reduce incidents of knife attacks
- Gain insights into the latest development in AI and facial recognition and how these can be harnessed to improve police operations involving knife attacks
- Consider the role that restrictions on the sale of knives can play in tackling knife crime
Who Should Attend?
- Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
- Community Safety Teams
- Community Rehabilitation Companies
- Probation Officers
- Welfare Officers
- Neighbourhood Policing Teams
- Anti-Social Behaviour Coordinators
- Drug and Alcohol Action Teams
- Police Services, Police Authorities and Fire Services
- Police and Crime Commissioners
- Police Associations
- General Practitioners
- Accident and Emergency NHS Staff
- Youth Offending Teams
- Youth and Outreach Workers
- Youth Inclusion Team from Young Offenders Institutes
- Integrated Offender Management Units
- Community Cohesion and Development Organisations
- Community Support Officers
- Accident and Emergency Departments
- Local Authority Officers and Councillors
- Central Government Departments and Agencies
- Children and Youth Services
- Domestic Violence Co-ordinators
- Families Services Officers
- Sure Start, Children’s Trusts and Children’s Centres
- Health Service Professionals
- Victim Support Representatives
- Psychologists
- Education Officers
- Social Workers and Social Services Officers
- Local Education Welfare Authorities
- Teachers and Head Teachers
- Neighbourhood Wardens and Co-ordinators
- Criminal Justice Practitioners
- Judges and Magistrates
- Legal Professionals
- Equality and Diversity Practitioners
- Third Sector Practitioners
- Academics and Researchers