A special committee has been set up in a bid to reduce knife crime in Kent.

The Knife Crime in Kent Select Committee will also explore the reasons for an increase in the crime across the county, and examine current initiatives being used to address the problem.

The committee was established by Kent County Council’s (KCC) Scrutiny Committee in April, and aims to undertake a swift review.

And at its first meeting, held yesterday, the committee began its work by choosing its chairman and agreeing its main priorities.

They are:

• To examine the reasons behind the recent increases in knife crime offences in the county

• To consider current initiatives in Kent focused on addressing knife crime in the county

• To identify opportunities for KCC to help reduce the incidence and impact of knife crime in Kent

The committee is cross-party and independent from the council’s executive and will gather information via hearing sessions with relevant witnesses and the collection of written submissions from experts and interested stakeholders.

Chair of the committee Paul Barrington-King said: "I am grateful to the Committee for electing me as the chair and I am looking forward to working with my fellow members across the political parties as we meet with a range of expert witnesses, professionals and academics.

"It’s important that we consider all the key information out there and I am keen that our focus as a committee is on finding positive ways KCC can help the other partner agencies, who are already doing good work to tackle knife crime, so we can all be confident everyone is doing all they can to keep the public safe.”

Now, the committee is hoping to gather as many views on the issue as possible and are inviting people to send in any written submissions about knife crime.

Submissions can be sent to select.committee@kent.gov.uk by Sunday, June 2.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent