Daily roundup 20 February: Knife crime, tuition fees, and child sex offences

Home Secretary Amber Rudd today called for "a different approach" to tackling knife crime as she expressed dismay at the "terrible" toll of young lives being lost. The Evening Standard reports that Rudd said diversion and early intervention would be the main focus of a new strategy for combating serious violence that she will unveil later this year. She added that "engaging" with young people and providing "incentives" that would prevent them from being drawn into crime was the best long-term solution to the problem.


Prime Minister Theresa May has called for better value for students in England, but has ruled out completely scrapping tuition fees. The BBC reports that May has launched a review of tuition fees and university funding, to be chaired by the author and financier, Philip Augar. Labour has said it would abolish fees and bring back maintenance grants.


The number of alleged child sexual crimes reported to police has reached a record high, a children's charity has warned. The Telegraph reports that forces in the UK recorded 64,667 sexual offences allegedly perpetrated against victims aged under 18 in 2016/17, according to figures obtained by the NSPCC. This was a rise of 15 per cent compared with the previous year, and equates to an average of 177 a day.


The Wales Audit Office wants to collect the stories of 16- to 25-year-olds on their experiences of accessing and using public services in Wales. The views will feed into a study looking at the Welsh Government's strategic planning of services for young people aged 16 to 25. The survey, which will run throughout February and March can be accessed on the organisation's Facebook page.


The Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education has criticised Education Secretary Damian Hinds after he indicated he intends to drop a 50 per cent cap on religious discrimination in admissions at new state-funded faith schools. Chair of the Accord Coalition, the Rev Stephen Terry, said the cap, which was introduced in 2010 represented the most serious attempt by government in recent years to help boost mixing and integration in society, and scrapping it would be a "deeply irresponsible move".