Knives: Crime Prevention
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his press release entitled Every child caught with a knife to get tailored support, published on 11 February 2026, if he will set out how the £320 million Youth Justice Services funding package will be allocated across England and Wales; and what proportion of that funding is new money.
Answered by Jake Richards
Over the next three financial years, the Ministry of Justice will allocate £281 million for youth justice grants and a further £46 million of funding for the extension of the Turnaround grant programme.
This is a continuation of funding levels from previous years but the Department has provided multi-year funding to youth justice services. This will give youth justice services the stability to retain staff, plan effectively with partners, and commission services more efficiently - ultimately strengthening their ability to tackle knife possession and other offences committed by children.
Funding will be allocated to Youth Justice Services across England and Wales using same distribution method that has been applied for the past 13 years. We recognise that the current method for allocating youth justice funding needs updating and later this year we will undertake a consultation about long-term funding and oversight arrangements for youth justice services.
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