Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on regarding knife crime.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with Ofsted on guidance for schools on knife crime.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of guidance for schools on knife crime.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many weapons were seized in schools in England in (a) 2018 and (b) 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to update guidance for schools on knife crime.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the incidence of knife crime on school premises.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the charge rate for knife crime offences was in England in (a) 2018 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Overall levels of violent crime experienced by the general population are down by 51% since 2010, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Levels of serious youth violence, as measured by the number of under-25 hospital admissions following an assault with a knife or other bladed instrument, are down by 25% in England and Wales compared with the year ending 2019.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. These data can be found in the Home Office Open Data Tables, available here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes were committed by children under the age of 10 in England in (a) 2018 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. This includes the number of cases that were closed due to offender being below the age of criminal responsibility. This is recorded in the official statistics as outcome 11 “prosecution prevented: suspect under age” and the latest data can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables
This will not cover all offences committed by children under 10, as the Home Office recorded crime collection does not include all summary only offences, that is those that can only be dealt with at Magistrates Courts.