§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to adopt a knife code along the lines of that adopted in Coventry; [4106]
(2) What discussions he has had with the hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) on the introduction of a knife code. [4107]
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answers 18 November 1996]: My right hon. and learned Friend has given his full support to the voluntary knife code adopted by retailers in Coventry, and would support its introduction elsewhere. My right hon. and learned Friend has not discussed the code with the hon. Member for Blackburn.
§ Mr. CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the extent to which crimes involving knives has fallen in Coventry since the knife code was introduced in the City. [4108]
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 18 November 1996]: This information is not available centrally.
§ Mr. CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes involving the use of knives were committed(a) nationally and (b) in the west midlands in each year since 1990; and what was the annual percentage change. [4105]
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 18 November 1996]: For crimes recorded by the police, the information is not available centrally. The best estimate from the 1996 British crime survey is that, in 1995, there were about 160,000 incidents of wounding and robbery in which the offenders had—but did not necessarily use—a knife. Information for previous years covered by the survey—1992 and 1994—cannot reliably be compared.