The Home Office regularly collects information on knives and violent incidents via the British Crime Survey. The findings are published each year at national level. Data from the 2006-07 survey can be found on the Home Office web site at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb1107.pdf
The Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS) also includes questions on young people carrying and using knives. These findings are also published at national level. The latest published information from the 2005 survey can be found on the Home Office website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1706.pdf
Historically, homicide has been the only offence category for which police recorded knife crime is collected by the Home Office. Figures are published each year for method of killing, and 'sharp instrument' is one of these methods. National findings for 2006-07 can be found on the Home Office website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0308.pdf
Data on knife-enabled grievous bodily harm and robbery offences have been collected centrally since April 2007. Figures for 2007-08 will be published in July 2008 in the next annual ‘Crime in England and Wales’ volume.