Plea to tell parents of knife crimes in schools

would be required to develop policies for dealing with weapons in schools, while new guidance made clear that any incident must be monitored and recorded at a local level.

Miss Davidson said Aberdeen City Council introduced measures to ensure a ‘clear picture’ of knife crime in schools and an anti-knife crime policy.

But she said: ‘In response to recent Freedom of Information requests, nearly half of Scottish councils were unable to confirm the number of weapons confiscated from pupils in their areas, because that information was not held centrally.

‘And that is information I think parents and the wider public should have the right to know.’

Agreeing to look into the matter, Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘It is for councils to make sure they are taking the action that adheres to the guidance in all respects of that guidance.’ PARENTS have the right to know of any incidents in schools which have involved knives, Ruth Davidson said yesterday.

It followed revelations that councils are not recording the information.

The Scottish Tory leader said there was ‘no meaningful picture of the extent of the problem’ because half of local authorities could not confirm how many weapons had been seized from pupils.

She raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions after the Scottish Daily Mail revealed nearly five under-16s a week were found carrying weapons.

Two years ago Bailey Gwynne, 16, was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil during a fight at Cults Academy, Aberdeen.

After the tragedy, the Scottish Government said councils

‘Public should have the right to know’