Schools: Offensive Weapons

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people were convicted for possession of a blade or offensive weapon on school premises in (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007. (187877)

I have been asked to reply.

Data on convictions for possession of knives and offensive weapons on school premises for 2005 and 2006 are provided in the following table.

Data for 2007 will be available in autumn of this year.

*Number of persons found guilty for having an article with a blade or point or an offensive weapon on school premises, England and Wales, 2005 and 2006*^{1, 2, 3}
	Article with a blade or point⁴	Offensive weapons
2005	44	29
2006	45	36
¹ These data are provided on the principal offence basis. ² Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. ³ Offences under Criminal Justice Act 1988 SS.139 and 139(2) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1) ⁴ Figures for this offence for 2005 exclude convictions in West Mercia PFA due to an issue with the data.

Volume 472: debated on Thursday 6 March 2008