New law introduces wide-ranging powers to tackle crime and protect communities
The UK government has introduced a wide-ranging set of new crime-fighting powers after the landmark Crime and Policing Act received Royal Assent on 30 April 2026.
The legislation, described by ministers as a major overhaul of policing powers, aims to strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to tackle crime across communities in England and Wales. According to the Home Office, the Act includes more than 70 measures designed to address antisocial behaviour, retail crime, serious violence and offences involving vulnerable individuals.
Minister for Crime and Policing Sarah Jones said the legislation provides police with the tools needed to respond to issues affecting local communities. She stated that the measures are intended to strengthen public confidence in policing and address what the government described as an increase in serious violence and crimes affecting women and girls.
Among the key provisions, the Act introduces “respect orders”, allowing police to ban repeat offenders from specific locations such as town centres. It also removes the requirement for a prior warning before police can seize vehicles used in antisocial behaviour.
The legislation ends the classification of theft under £200 as a summary-only offence, enabling courts to impose stricter penalties. It also creates a specific criminal offence for assaulting retail workers, carrying a potential prison sentence of up to six months.
Further measures focus on online and organised crime. The Act introduces new powers to help police manage online stalking, including provisions to disclose the identity of suspects to victims earlier. Courts will also have greater authority to impose stalking protection orders following conviction or acquittal.
The legislation establishes new criminal offences, including child criminal exploitation, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, and “cuckooing”, where a person’s home is taken over for criminal activity, with a maximum sentence of five years.
Additional provisions address knife crime and online sales of weapons. These include mandatory identity checks for online knife purchases, legal obligations for retailers to report bulk purchases, and potential criminal liability for technology companies that fail to act on illegal content related to weapons.
The Act also introduces a new offence for possession of a knife with intent to cause unlawful violence, punishable by up to seven years in prison.
The government said the legislation will be supported by a commitment to recruit an additional 13,000 neighbourhood police officers by the end of the current parliament. Officials stated that the measures form part of a broader strategy to improve safety, strengthen enforcement and respond to evolving patterns of crime.