The UK government says more than 80,000 knives and dangerous weapons, roughly 100 a day, have been taken off Britain's streets since the General Election. According to the Home Office, the total is 80,190 items removed or seized since July 2024 through surrender schemes, enforcement, Border Force seizures and the County Lines Programme.
Surrender schemes and seizures
The Home Office said 3,811 knives and weapons were handed in during August 2026 under its surrender arrangements. Of those, 3,049 went into Home Office-funded "Word 4 Weapons" bins and 762 were given to the "FazAmnesty" mobile van. The department said West Yorkshire bins took in 439, including 337 in a single bin in Halifax.
The wider total includes 47,795 zombie-style knives and machetes surrendered under the 2024 scheme, 3,942 ninja swords surrendered in July 2025, and 11,787 items deposited in bins between September 2025 and July 2026. A further 1,900 knives were recovered through the County Lines Programme.
Crime figures
The Home Office said knife-enabled robbery is down 24% since June 2024 across the seven most affected forces, equivalent to 3,810 fewer robberies, compared with a 23% reduction in the previous reporting period. It also said knife crime across England and Wales is down 11% since the General Election, and that hospital admissions for assault with a sharp object have fallen 16%.
Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics for the year ending June 2026 show police-recorded knife-enabled offences fell 6% to 48,615, from 51,567 a year earlier. The ONS said homicides by knife or sharp instrument fell 9% to 179. It noted police-recorded crime is not always a reliable guide to overall trends because recording practices change. It also said overall robbery rose 10% to 88,282 offences, mainly because of improved recording of robbery of business property.
Funding and new measures
The government is rolling out a £26.25 million Knife Crime Concentrations Fund targeting over 230 hotspots, with extra patrols, better CCTV and work with young people at risk. A "No Place for Knives" pilot campaign began in Birmingham, Croydon and Westminster. The National Knife Crime Centre, launched in April, has identified 186 grey-market sellers and reported 183 social media handles to platforms.
Policing and Crime Minister Sarah Jones said the government is "turning the tide" but cannot be satisfied while lives are still being lost, and pledged to deliver its promise to halve knife crime within a decade.
