Crime and Policing Bill: call for evidence

Aims of the Bill

Across 15 parts, 137 clauses and 17 schedules, the bill includes measures aimed at addressing knife crime, violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour, retail crime, serious and organised crime, fraud, theft, public order, terrorism and sexual offending.

Anti-social behaviour

Part 1 of the bill would introduce  a new ‘respect order’, allowing local authorities and police to impose restrictions on people who commit anti-social behaviour, and which would include a criminal sanction on breach. Other measures will amend existing powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, including removing the need for the police to issue a warning before seizing vehicles associated with anti-social behaviour.

Knife crime

Part 2 of the bill would introduce a new offence of possessing a knife or offensive weapon with intent, increase the maximum penalty for manufacturing, selling, hiring, or lending prohibited weapons, and give the police greater powers to seize knives from properties.

Shoplifting and assaults on shop workers

Amid reported increases in assaults against shop workers and shoplifting, part 3 of the bill would create a new offence of assaulting a retail worker.

It would also amend legislation so that all shop thefts involving an alleged offence under section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 would be triable either way (in a magistrates’ court or the Crown Court), regardless of the value of the goods stolen. This would aim to “remove any perception that offenders will escape punishment” for low value shoplifting.

Safeguarding vulnerable people

Part 4 of the bill would include measures aimed at protecting children and vulnerable people, including creating new offences of child criminal exploitation and ‘cuckooing’, often associated with county lines drug dealing.

It would also establish new offences of spiking and encouraging or assisting serious self-harm.

Sexual offences

Part 5 of the bill would introduce several measures aimed at tackling child sexual abuse and other sexual offending.

This includes implementing two recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. It would make grooming a statutory aggravating factor when sentencing an adult for a child sex offence and create a statutory duty for certain individuals to report child sexual abuse.

It would also introduce measures to tackle the creation and possession of child sexual abuse material and putting the child sex offender disclosure scheme, ‘Sarah’s law’, on a statutory footing.

It would also introduce several new offences relating to the taking of intimate images and voyeurism.

Police powers

Part 9 of the bill would reintroduce some of the previous government’s proposals to create new offences related to protests, such as banning face coverings, pyrotechnics, and climbing war memorials.

Part 10 of the bill includes measures to allow the police to enter premises without a warrant to search for electronically tracked stolen goods, and conduct drug tests in custody for a wider range of offences and drugs.

Police misconduct investigations

Part 13 of the bill would reform certain arrangements for the handling of complaints and conduct matters against the police, in the context of concerns about both complainants and the rights of officers under investigation.

Youth radicalisation

Part 14 of the bill would introduce measures aimed at tackling youth radicalisation, announced as the initial response to the ‘counter-extremism sprint’ established by the government following the general election.

These would take the form of ‘youth diversion orders’, a counter-terrorism risk management tool available to people under 21. The police would be able to apply to the courts for an order, which could require or prohibit certain conduct, if necessary and proportionate to mitigate terrorist risk.

The bill would also implement, or build upon, a number of recommendations of the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC.

Follow the progress of the Crime and Policing Bill

The Crime and Policing Bill 2024-25 was published on 27 February 2025. The bill had its second reading on 10 March 2025.

• Bills before Parliament: Crime and Policing Bill
• Read Explanatory Notes: Crime and Policing Bill
• House of Commons Library Briefing Paper

Oral evidence sessions will be held on Thursday 27 March.

Guidance on submitting written evidence

Deadline for written evidence submissions

The Public Bill Committee is now able to receive written evidence. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration.

Amendments tabled to the Bill, and information regarding the order in which amendments will be taken in Committee, will be available in due course on the Bill’s publications page (under ‘Amendment paper’ and ‘Selection of amendments’). Once the Committee has dealt with an amendment it will not revisit it.

The Public Bill Committee on the Crime and Policing Bill will meet for the first time on Thursday 27 March 2025 and will report by 5pm on Tuesday 13 May. When the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude earlier than the deadline of 5pm on Tuesday 13 May 2025. You are strongly advised to submit your written evidence as soon as possible.

Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk

Further guidance on submitting written evidence can be found here (pdf, 1MB).

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