BHETA is campaigning for an exemption for non-dangerous items from the costly requirement for age verification imposed in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. The Home Office is reviewing the laws around selling bladed articles with a planned update to the Crime & Policing Bill in the Spring.
BHETA has written to Government MPs at the Home Office and the Treasury, to Home Office Civil Servants and to senior opposition politicians to urge them to exempt ‘non-lethal’ items such as “round ended Cutlery Knives” from the restrictions. BHETA is urging suppliers to write to their MP in support of the campaign and has provided a link to a template letter at the bottom of this article.
Legal background
Section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act made it an offence to sell a knife to an under eighteen. Until 2022, this legislation was applied by retailers and enforced by law-enforcement using common sense to exclude round-ended and blunt cutlery knives.
With the new regulations introduced by the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, guidance was issued by the previous government in 2022, which stated that a normal round-ended cutlery knife was “likely to be captured” by the restrictions under Section 141A CJA 1988. The same 2022 Guidance went on to state that “cutlery knives (other than sharply pointed steak knives)” are not considered bladed products for the purposes of the regulations introduced by OWA2019 and were not dangerous or used in violent crime.
This has created a contradiction: while a normal round-ended cutlery knife is not a bladed product for the purpose of the OWA 2019, the 2022 Guidance draws such harmless items as normal cutlery knives within the restrictions meant to capture sharp and dangerous items.
Views of Law Enforcement and Trading Standards
It is a commonly held view that the restrictions on selling round-ended cutlery knives do not align with the aim of reducing access to dangerous knives and blades used in violent crime. Round-ended table knives are not dangerous weapons and are not implicated in violent incidents. For example:
- Trish Burls, Trading Standards Manager for the London Borough of Croydon, stated: “In relation to test purchasing of knives, a test purchaser in Croydon would not be directed to attempt a purchase of a piece of cutlery. These are not, in my opinion, appropriate items to test.”
- Doug Love, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Hammersmith & Fulham Council, added: “Knives without pointed ends or sharp blades, such as cutlery knives, saws, and garden shears, do not fall into the category of items intended to be restricted by this legislation.”
The Financial Impact of Age Verification on Cutlery Suppliers
The inclusion of cutlery knives in the 2022 Guidance has led to significant compliance burdens for retailers, with every sale of normal, round-ended cutlery knives, and sets containing such items, requiring age verification on sale and delivery. The costs and administrative burden to UK businesses is significant at a time when government support for economic growth is critical. Some BHETA members report annual costs nearing £50,000 for online age verification systems.
Past campaigning & Home Office meetings
BHETA has consistently raised this issue with the Home Office over several years. Following a meeting with Esperanza Gomez, Policy Lead at the Home Office on 17th May 2022, it was understood that:
- Neither the Government nor the Police view cutlery knives as offensive weapons.
- The inclusion of cutlery knives in the OWA2019 is unnecessarily imposing substantial costs on UK businesses.
- The Minister at the time expressed a willingness to exempt cutlery knives.
- The Home Office would consider excluding cutlery knives during the next legislative review.
Proposed Solution
BHETA and the industry requests that the Home Office use the upcoming Crime & Policing Bill as an opportunity to exempt blunt-ended cutlery knives from the OWA2019.
Specifically, we propose:
- Collaborating with BHETA and the industry to address this issue.
- Amending the legislation to exclude blunt-ended and rounded cutlery knives from the requirements for two-step age verification.
- The Home Office to issue updated guidance specifying that only sales of sharply pointed cutlery knives, such as steak knives, fall within the scope of Section 141A, and that round-ended table cutlery knives are excluded from this and all other legislation aimed at reducing sales of dangerous knives to under 18s.
BHETA has written to:
VIEW LETTER TO HOME SECRETARY
Government Ministers:
- Yvette Cooper MP (Secretary of State for the Home Department)
- Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP (Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention)
- Jonathan Reynolds MP (Secretary of State for Business and Trade)
- Sarah Jones MP – Minister of State (Minister for Industry)
Home Office Civil Servants who work on Knife Policy
:Opposition MPs:
- Chris Philp – Shadow Home Secretary, Conservative
- Andrew Griffith – Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Conservative
- Lisa Smart – Home Affairs spokesperson, Liberal Democrats
ACTION:
BHETA encourages all our members to write to their local MP and request that they urge the Home Office to take the opportunity in the Crime & Policing Bill in the Spring to exclude ‘non-lethal’ knives such as “Cutlery Knives” from the restrictions imposed in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.
download BHETA TEMPLATE LETTER