The environment department of the Balearic Islands

A bag search can endanger a teacher's safety, he said, and can only search pupils when authorised by a school head. "This could all mean it needs to be done by a security professional," he said, adding schools do not have funds to employ them.Butler called for "stronger deterrence", calling for carrying a weapon to "result in automatic exclusion".

"After all, it is a criminal offence and should be dealt with robustly," he said.In the Senedd on Wednesday, Conservative Senedd education spokeswoman Natasha Asghar said Welsh government guidance said carrying a weapon "no longer applies as a reason for exclusion" in schools.Education Secretary Lynne Neagle suggested this was incorrect.

"Can I just be clear that our exclusions guidance does say the schools can exclude a pupil permanently for carrying a weapon," she said.Plaid Cymru Police and Commissioner for Dyfed Powys, Dafydd Llywelyn, said Neagle's comments about the police were "highly ironic" when the Welsh government axed funding for a school visit programme.

allowed for 68 officers across Wales' four forces to deliver lessons on substance abuse, safety, safeguarding and behaviour. The scheme was retained in Dyfed Powys.

"If there was a particular issue in a particular school, we would have the capacity to do that on an ad hoc basis," he said.During the last five years, the sharpest increase has been recorded in the north-west of England.

After requesting data from 25 councils in the region, the BBC has learned:A Department for Education spokesman said SEND children and young people had been "for too long let down", adding the government was "ready to speak to any council that is experiencing financial difficulties".

Several parents told BBC News they had been forced to take their children out of mainstream schools because they could not accommodate their EHCPs.Ruth said her eight-year-old son Samuel, who is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had not been in a classroom since January.