Date

17 September 2025

Issue
Introduction of the Crime and Policing Bill 2025 – the objectives, the changes, and the response.

Summary
The Crime and Policing Bill was presented to Parliament in February 2025 as part of the government's plans to address rising crime and anti-social behaviour across the UK. In March 2025, an estimated 4.5 million victim-based offences were recorded by the police in the preceding 12 months. The proposed Bill focuses on addressing serious violence, child sexual abuse, and violence against women and girls; protecting the public; enhancing police powers and strengthening the criminal justice system overall.
 

Proposed Changes and Provisions

  • Anti-social behaviour (ASB):
    One of the fundamental components of the Bill concerns the prevention of ASB through the implementation of Respect Orders. This civil order would enable courts to impose restrictions on people who commit ASB. Breaching this order would be punishable as a criminal offence by a fine and/or a term of imprisonment of up to two years, as opposed to just being punishable as contempt of court. However, Respect Orders would apply only to those aged over 18.

    Additionally, the Bill contains measures to increase the current powers of police and local authorities under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. These include extending the power to issue closure notices to registered social housing providers and removing the requirement for the police to issue a warning before seizing a vehicle.
     
  • Knife Crime:
    In the last decade, offences involving knives or sharp instruments have increased by 81%. The Crime and Policing Bill aims to affect the government’s commitment to halve knife crime in a decade through various reforms to legislation and policy.

    Some proposals include introducing personal liability measures on senior individuals in charge of online platforms who are inattentive to any illegal content on their site, concerning weapons and knives. Moreover, the Bill includes amendments to the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, including stricter age verification checks for the online sale of knives and crossbows, alongside more refined laws on those manufacturing, selling, delivering or collecting bladed products. It also creates a new criminal offence of possessing a bladed article with the intent to cause harm.
     
  • Sexual Offences:
    The ever-changing digital age and the advancement of cybercrime necessitate modifications to the law. The Bill addresses the rise in AI-generated images of child sexual abuse, making it an offence to produce, adapt, possess or supply such material.

    Currently under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, Border Force officers have powers to search for cash; however, the Bill would extend their power to search digital devices storing child sexual abuse images.
     
  • Violence against women and girls:
    Other provisions in the Crime and Policing Bill focus on protecting people and propose revisions to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, classifying spiking as a standalone offence. This would substitute some of the more outdated provisions and less common offences, such as the use of chloroform and maliciously administering poison. The Bill contains extensive guidance on stalking to be inserted in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and strengthens stalking protection orders.
     
  • Protest-related offences:
    The increasing number of protests has “highlighted gaps in public order legislation”. The Bill introduces new offences such as banning pyrotechnics at protests, criminalising climbing on war memorials, and prohibiting people from wearing items that conceal their identity.
     

Response to the Bill
The Bill is largely supported by MPs, but despite its broad proposals, some argue it should go further — covering issues like rural crime.

Organisations and activists such as Amnesty International have criticised the Bill, calling it “part of a growing trend on the crackdown of the right to protest”. Other legal professionals like Oliver Sells KC have expressed concerns that the Bill could increase the volume of cases brought through the courts.
 

Current Position and Future Impact
At present, the Bill is in the House of Lords with its second reading scheduled for 16 October 2025.

Overall, this new Bill contains many promising features which, if implemented effectively, could see an increase in public confidence within the criminal justice system. Whilst it is still difficult to predict the long-term impact on crime, it is a progressive step towards combating modern crime.