By Gavin Mackintosh-
Schools are working on early intervention to beat the spiralling problem of knife crime in the Uk. School failing to disclose important information to the police in a bid to “protect their reputations”, according to a senior councillor.
Amanda Carter suggested that serious incidents taking place on school grounds were going unreported, as education leaders wanted to protect the repotation of their schools.
The claim was made by Conservative Coun Carter at a West Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel meeting during a debate about youth crime on Friday. She said concerns had been raised at the Safer Leeds partnership, which brings together public bodies in the city to tackle crime and disorder.
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In response, the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Mark Burns-Williamson told Friday’s panel meeting that more “early intervention” work was being done in primary schools, in a bid stop younger children falling into cycles of crime in their later years. Details of the early intervention has not been given, but is expected to include professional training provided for pupils, establishing more discipline in schools and stimulating children more academically in school, nurturing pupils to follow the arts.
He added that the “fragmented” education system was hindering communication between schools and the police.
Coun Carter said: “There is generally a lot of concern, particularly from Safer Leeds, that schools aren’t disclosing everything they should.
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“They are more concerned about protecting their reputations rather than telling the police.”
Mr Burns-Williamson said: “When you look at the fragmentation of the education system – you’ve got schools, you’ve got academies – it really doesn’t help.
“It really comes down to the government needing to get messages out to schools and academies to make sure they’re doing certain things.
“At the moment we’re having to approach every school in the area, and we’re doing some good work with school liaison officers, but it’s very time consuming.”
The claims follow a report by Ofsted last month which said that some headteachers in London were not telling the Metropolitan Police about individual pupils carrying knives.
Mr Burns-Williamson told Friday’s panel meeting that more “early intervention” work was being done in primary schools, in a bid stop younger children falling into cycles of crime in their later years.
He said: “The age range we are dealing with is getting younger.
“There’s more focus on primary schools now, so there’s an emphasis on prevention before they get involved in criminal activity.
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