What conversations has the Minister undertaken with the National Police Chief’s Council to assist Welsh forces in replicating the successes of Operation Sceptre through the use of amnesty bins during other times of the year?
Although justice and policing is not devolved to Wales, we have a strong relationship with Welsh police forces and there is regular engagement at both Ministerial and official level on a broad range of issues, including on knife crime.
Knife crime has a devastating impact on our communities and police forces work continually to address the issue. Operation Sceptre is a long established England and Wales initiative aimed at encouraging the surrender of knives. All our Welsh forces and the British Transport Police continue to be part of the initiative.
The most recent Operation Sceptre was launched on Monday 15 September. The week saw an intensification of work related to tackling knife crime. The week focused on the surrender of weapons via honesty bins, which are provided as part of the operation, and on education, engagement and prevention. Work to prevent and deal with knife crime continues alongside the focused Operation Sceptre events.