Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has been made of the adequacy of national guidance for schools regarding (a) incidents and (b) reports of knife possession on school grounds.

It is essential that schools are equipped to act decisively to safeguard all pupils and staff. The department regularly keeps guidance under review and we are actively considering how we can further support schools to understand the expectations set out in policy guidance around both violence prevention, and response to violence.

Schools must have regard to statutory guidance, including ‘Keeping children safe in education’, ‘Working together to safeguard children’, and guidance on ‘Searching, screening and confiscation’.

The department has taken steps to strengthen practice in schools by working with the Youth Endowment Fund to highlight evidence based approaches to preventing violence. This includes a national webinar series, aimed at school leaders and safeguarding leads, which shares best practice, evidence based approaches and practical guidance on preventing serious violence and supporting vulnerable pupils. This work supports the government’s ambition to halve knife crime over the next decade, starting with effective early prevention‑based approaches to preventing violence.