Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill 2024-25: Progress of the bill
An overview of the progress of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill through the House of Commons prior to report stage.

There will be a general debate on knife crime on 14 December 2023. This debate was previously scheduled for 16 October 2023 and was sponsored by Wendy Morton MP.
CDP-2023 0192 (393 KB , PDF)
There are a range of criminal offences covering the possession, sale and supply of knives and other offensive weapons. A detailed breakdown of the criminal law on knife crime is set out in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) legal guidance Offensive Weapons, Knives, Bladed and Pointed Articles.
The Commons Library briefing paper Knife crime statistics analyses police recorded crime data, sentencing statistics and NHS hospital data.
In some cases, a conviction for a knife crime offence can result in a mandatory minimum custodial sentence, which requires the court to sentence the offender to at least six months in prison unless there are exceptional circumstances. These include where an offender is being sentenced for a repeat knife crime offence, or for an offence involving the use of a bladed article or offensive weapon to threaten another person in public or on school premises.
The courts can also use knife crime prevention orders and serious violence reduction orders to deal with knife crime:
Both types of orders have been introduced on a pilot basis. Evaluations of the pilots will be carried out before the Government decides whether to roll the provisions out across England and Wales.
Following a public consultation, in August 2023 the Government announced that it intends to legislate to introduce a range of new knife crime measures, including a ban on machetes and certain other large knives, a new police power to seize and destroy bladed articles, increased maximum penalties for offences relating to sale and supply, and a new offence of possession of a bladed article with the intention to endanger life or cause fear of violence. The Government has now introduced these measures in the Criminal Justice Bill 2023-24, which is currently in committee stage in the Commons. Sections 2.3 and 3.2 of the Library’s briefing on the Bill provide further details.
Recent years have seen a range of Government policies aimed at tackling knife crime. These have included:
CDP-2023 0192 (393 KB , PDF)
An overview of the progress of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill through the House of Commons prior to report stage.
The bill would prevent sentencing guidelines from referring to personal characteristics such as race, religion or belief, and cultural background in their guidance regarding when a pre-sentence report should be requested.
A briefing on fly-tipping in England, covering law and responsibilities for it, calls for change and proposals for reform.