I support schools and colleges which take an active role in preventing violent behaviour, including more serious violence such as young people carrying knives. While it is up to schools to decide how best to support their pupils, the Home Office issued practical advice to schools and colleges in August on addressing youth violence and gangs. The document is available at: www.gov.uk website.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has not had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), on the provision of anti-knife crime education in schools.

The Home Secretary chairs an inter-ministerial group on youth violence which has been attended by Ministers from both the Home Office and the Department for Education where key issues, including knife crime, are discussed as part of the Government's Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme.

In September 2011 I met the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton), formerly the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, to discuss travel to school. I attended the Department for Education round table meetings about school transport in March, May and June 2012. In December 2012 I met the Minister of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr Laws), to discuss home to school transport.

The Government is increasing the age to which all young people in England must continue in education or training, requiring them to continue until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17 from 2013 and until their 18th^{birthday from 2015.}

The responsibility for post-16 transport support is with local authorities. The authorities have a legal duty to set out in a transport statement the arrangements they consider necessary to enable young people to attend post-16 education. The Government recognises that some students find it difficult to pay for education-related costs, and this is one of the reasons why it introduced the 16-19 Bursary Fund. Local authorities and providers are encouraged to work together to ensure that post-16 transport support, and the 16-19 Bursary Fund are used effectively together to help meet transport costs.

Department for Education (DfE) Ministers have kept Department for Transport Ministers informed of the progress of the Efficiency and Practice Review of Home to School Transport and I discussed the matter when I recently met with my Rt Hon Friend, the Minister of State for Education, the Rt Hon Member for Yeovil (David Laws). The DfE will publish the report of the review in due course.