Knife-crime clampdown brings slight fall in injuries

In areas of the country where stabbings are most common, like West and South Yorkshire, the number of hospital admissions for assault with a sharp object among the 13 to 24 age group has changed little in a year.

NHS statistics published yesterday show there were 1,507 admissions between December 2008 and November 2009, compared with 1,538 in the previous 12 months.

The hot-spots are part of the Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) and, as well as West and South Yorkshire, include London, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.

Assaults with sharp objects were less common in non-TKAP areas, where 541 13 to 24-year-olds were admitted to hospital in 2008-09 and 588 were treated in 2007-08.

Overall, the number of admissions to English hospitals for any kind of assault rose among 13 to 24-year-olds, from 10,768 to 10,800 in TKAP areas and from 6,349 to 6,509 in non-TKAP areas.

Among all age groups, there were 43,446 admissions for assault during 2008-09, of which 27,064 – more than three in five – were from TKAP areas.

TKAP areas accounted for the same proportion of admissions the previous year - 26,263 out of 42,145.

The programme was launched by the Home Office two years ago in response to knife-related murders and serious stabbings.

Knife crime statistics have provoked controversy since 2008, when the Home Office released figures claiming knife-related assaults had fallen despite NHS statisticians saying the data was not properly checked.