The prime minister has been told that a “broken” system of exclusions is to blame for rising knife crime across the country.
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, co-signed a letter to Theresa May calling for an end to rising unofficial exclusions, known as off-rolling.
The letter said: “Clearly, the way the education system deals with excluded young people is broken. It cannot be right that so many of those who have committed offences have been excluded from school or were outside of mainstream education.
“That is why the time has come to act urgently. In the first instance, local authorities need powers and responsibilities over all school exclusions.”
The letter, signed by six police and crime commissioners in England and one in Wales, follows a sharp rise in exclusions in London and the West Midlands – two areas worst-hit by knife violence.
Figures show permanent exclusions in England increased by 56% between 2013-14 and 2016-17.
The letter adds: “There is significant variation by schools as to what will result in exclusion, with many excluded pupils moving between local authority areas and also out of their cities. The practice of off-rolling must be outlawed.”
Pressure has been mounting on the government to address rising knife crime following the fatal stabbing of two 17-year-olds, Jodie Chesney in east London, and Yousef Ghaleb Makki, in Manchester.
Speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme on Thursday, Khan spoke about a fragmented education system in which local authorities have little authority over academies and free schools.
He batted away comments from Ofsted that there is no established link between exclusions and knife crime, drawing on evidence that excluded children are at greater risk of becoming either perpetrators or victims of serious youth violence.
“More and more young people – vulnerable children – are excluded and not looked after,” he said. “When you look at prison inspectorate reports – nine out of 10 young people in custody have been excluded.”
The West Midlands police and crime commissioner, David Jamieson, said last week that knife crime was a “national emergency”, with excluded children the most likely to be involved.
He said: “We must do something about that exclusion of children because those children are on almost an immediate path into crime and into violence.”
Commissioners for the West Midlands, South Yorkshire, Humberside, Northumbria, West Yorkshire, Leicestershire and South Wales signed the letter.
Offences involving a knife or sharp instrument have risen by 12% in the past year, and the number of those aged 16 and under treated for stab wounds by the NHS has nearly doubled in five years.
Theresa May was criticised this week after claiming there was “no direct correlation” between police cuts and rising knife crime.
