The number of offences involving knives recorded by police in England and Wales in 2019 was the highest on record, official statistics show, with big cities driving up the numbers. There were 45,627 offences involving knives or sharp instruments recorded by police in 2019, a 7% rise year on year, and 49% higher than 2011 when comparable records began, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Knife offences continued to be concentrated in metropolitan areas across England and Wales, the ONS said, with about a third of all the offences recorded in London, where there was a 5% increase. The West Midlands police, which covers Birmingham, recorded an increase of 13%. In separate Home Office statistics, the proportion of recorded offences that resulted in a charge or summons fell from 8.3% to 7.1% in 2019. London was an exception to the trend of an overall drop in knife killings. The number of homicides – murders or manslaughter offences – involving a knife or sharp instrument decreased by 8% in 2019 to 242 offences. But in the capital there was a 13% increase in homicides involving a knife or sharp instrument, from 77 to 87. Data for Greater Manchester police was not included in the ONS release owing to IT issues at the force. The total number of homicides in England and Wales was up 2% in 2019 to 670. This figure includes the deaths of 39 people found in the back of a lorry in Essex. Again, the numbers in London were proportionally much higher, with a 15% increase in homicides from 127 to 146 recorded by the Metropolitan police in 2019. The homicide rate in the population remained very low, at 12 for every 1 million people, the ONS added. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), a different measure of police-recorded offences, which assesses experience of crime, estimated that more than 10.4m offences were experienced by adults aged 16 years and over in 2019 – a significant decrease of 5% from the previous year. Joe Traynor, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: “It is not possible to say whether this would have come to represent a change from the flat trend in recent years, as it is likely that the current lockdown will have an impact on the level of crime in 2020.” Labour’s Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary, said: “These damning figures show the Conservative government continues to fail communities on crime, especially when it comes to knife crime. “This has been the inevitable consequence of huge cuts to policing and the loss of 21,000 officers, and the cuts to the key services we rely on to prevent crime, such as youth clubs, mental health support and probation. “The failure on crime shows again the devastating impact of austerity and why our country can’t afford to make the same mistakes when we emerge from the coronavirus crisis.” Commenting on the 5% drop in overall crime recorded by the Crime Survey of England and Wales, the homesSecretary Priti Patel said: “This is extremely encouraging and a positive step in the right direction, but I remain steadfast in ensuring the criminal minority do not get away with their crimes. “I will continue to give the police the stop and search powers, funding and extra officers they need to keep our families, communities and country safe. “Cutting crime is an absolute priority for the British people – therefore a priority for me and this government.”