Why, when we have a CoP at the cost of £71m, are the Home Office having to fund a charity to provide insights such as this? Surely, the CoP should be able to provide the toolkit that the YEF have devised, and moreover, set APP to mandate its delivery? The reality is that everyone working in the sphere of crime prevention with children and young people knows full well that the solutions to tackling youth violence lie in long-term sustained investment to give children hope of a safe, secure and sustainably remunerated existence. In the absence of funding for those lofty aspirations, we can expect instead to see more ineffectual window dressing because we have to be seen to be doing something - knife amnesties are a cheap and produce great photo opportunities (which probably reinforce the perception that every other child is carrying a knife).

Might not work, but create some excellent media exposure for senior officers to hand out soundbites and make it look like the problem is being dealt with.

The sort of person who is willing to use a knife isn't the sort of person who will hand it in during an amnesty.