CUTS to local authorities’ early help and prevention services could be driving the rise in youth knife crime, Ofsted suggested today.

Relative poverty is also an important factor in knife crime among children and young people, according to the watchdog’s report.

Council children’s services are dealing with increasing demand to support vulnerable children and many have significantly reduced budgets for preventative services, the report said.

Spending per head on the services fell by over 60 per cent in real terms between 2009-10 and 2016-17, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, as central government funding was slashed.

Some school heads also reported that there was no specific training provided to staff on what to do when a knife is detected or on how to deal with the aftermath of such incidents.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: “This report is very timely and highlights the importance of early interventions in our schools and colleges to help protect children.
 
“The government’s policy of cuts has failed vulnerable children in particular and Ofsted have now said that this could be one of the factors driving the rise in knife crime.”

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman also warned that decisions to exclude pupils for bringing knives into schools do not always take their best interests into account.

She said some schools are not conducting knife searches or teaching about knife crime for fear that such action would harm the school’s image.

Permanent exclusions have risen in the last few years and there is a shortage of registered provision for excluded children, Ms Spielman warned.