Budget cuts to police contributed to the rising number of murders in Britain, an official report has found.

Home Office research named the falling number of police officers since 2010 were a “contributory factor”, alongside drugs and terror attacks.

“The evidence suggests that levels of police resources and the activities pursued can drive homicide trends,” said a report released on Thursday.

“If all else is equal, more police officers means fewer homicides and bringing justice to lawless areas or markets seems particularly important.”

But the document warned that increasing police numbers were “no panacea”, following Boris Johnson’s pledge to recruit 20,000 police officers over three years.

The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Show all 21 1 /21 The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Oluwadamilolda Odeyingbo Oluwadamilolda Odeyingbo, 18, was killed in a fight in Chislehurst on 10 January 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Hasan Ozcan Hasan Ozcan, 19, was stabbed to death on the Gascoigne Estate in Barking on 3 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Sabri Chibani Sabri Chibani, 19, was stabbed fatally in the chest in Streatham on 11 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Promise Nkenda Lord Promise Nkenda, 17, was stabbed to death in Canning Town on 14 February 2018 Facebook The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Lewis Blackman Lewis Blackman, a 19-year-old rapper from Kentish Town, was stabbed to death in Kensington on 18 February 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Abdikarim Hassan Abdikarim Hassan, 17, was stabbed to death near his home in Camden's Peckwater estate on 20 March - less tahan two hours before another man was stabbed to death nearby Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Kelvin Odunuyi Kelvin Odunuyi, a 19-year-old rapper known as DipDat and Lampz, was shot dead in Wood Green on 8 March Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Lyndon Davis Lyndon Davis, 18, was chased down and stabbed to death in Chadwell Heath on 14 March Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Tanesha Melbourne-Blake Tanesha Melbourne, 17, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Tottenham on 2 April PA The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Amaan Shakoor Amaan Shakoor, 16, was shot dead in Walthamstow on 2 April Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Israel Ogunsola Israel Ogunsola, 18, was stabbed to death in Hackney on 4 April Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, a 17-year-old rapper and aspiring architect, was shot dead in a Kennington Street on 5 May Handout The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Jordan Douherty Aspiring rapper Jordan Douherty died of his injuries outside a birthday party in Romford on 23 June Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Katrina Makunova Katrina Makunova, 17, was stabbed to death in Camberwell on 12 July 2018 Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Latwaan Griffiths 18-year-old Latwaan Griffiths was fatally stabbed on 25 July and died in hospital after being thrown off the back of a moped in Camberwell Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Guled Farah Guled Farah, 19, was shot in Walthamstow on 22 September Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Ethan Nedd-Bruce Ethan Nedd-Bruce, 18, died after he was shot outside a party at a flat in Greenwich, south-east London, on 22 October. He had also been stabbed, but the gunshot wound was the cause of death. Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Jay Hughes Jay Hughes, 15, died was fatally stabbed outside a chicken shop in Bellingham, south-east London, on 1 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Malcolm Mide-Madariola Malcolm Mide-Madariola, 17, was found suffering from a stab wound outside Clapham South Tube station on 2 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 John Ogunjobi John Ogunjobi, 16, died in front of his parents after he was stabbed in Greenleaf Close, Tulse Hill, on 5 November Metropolitan Police The teenagers murdered in London in 2018 Aron Warren Aron Warren, 18, was found stabbed in a flat block in Greenwich on 8 December and died at the scene Metropolitan Police

“What the police do is clearly important but there is a shortage of proven strategies in England and Wales,” it concluded.

Theresa May sparked outrage among police officers last year when she insisted there was “no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers”.

While home secretary, she had accused the Police Federation of “crying wolf” about the impact of austerity, which caused the number of police officers to fall by more than 20,000.

Mr Johnson reversed the government’s stance last year by promising to recruit that number of officers over three years and increasing police funding, although critics say cuts to youth workers and other public services also play a part.

Statistics show that the homicide rate increased by 39 per cent between March 2015 and 2019, but the government response was “hampered” because the driving factors were not understood.

The Home Office report said that rising murders since 2014 had been partly driven by drug-related cases and partly by terror attacks, whose victims are included in the homicide count.

It found that sudden spikes are often linked to “destabilisation of illicit drug markets”, where small groups of people are drawn into patterns of tit-for-tat violence “due to gang beef or competition related to a change in supply or demand of illicit drugs”.

Researchers said that crack cocaine in particular has been linked with the recent homicide surge.

The drug is commonly dealt by “county lines” gangs, who use children to transport their product from urban hubs to rural targets – a practice that has been linked to increased knife carrying.

Knives or sharp instruments are the most common weapons used and the majority of victims are white.

Woman gives passionate speech about knife crime during Question Time

But the report found that in the year to March 2018, homicide rates were four times higher for black victims and eight times higher for black suspects.

Researchers said the gap narrows in deprived areas, suggesting poverty is a “factor in explaining higher rates among black people”.

They concluded that homicide rates could be reduced with a long-term scientific approach, and stressed that figures were still low in Britain compared to other nations.

The report recommended the use of prevention programmes alongside focused police operations.

“To fully understand and prevent the sudden surges in homicide it is vital to marry up street-level intelligence on drug markets and gang conflicts to data analysis of serious violence trends,” it concluded.

“We need to know which types of shift in drug supply, demand and gang conflict typically cause surges in homicides.”

It was published as the policing minister spoke with police and crime commissioners at a forum aimed at tackling serious violence, including county lines drug dealing, and driving down homicides.

Kit Malthouse said: “The rise in serious violence is deeply concerning and we can only tackle it by working together and giving police and crime commissioners the tools to reduce crime at a local level.”

Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, called the findings “damning” and said the government had been repeatedly warned of austerity’s consequences for public safety.

“For years, Home Office ministers have insisted that there is no direct relationship between the number of police officers and levels of crime on our streets – this report indicates that there is one,” the Labour MP added.

“The committee will be monitoring the government’s recruitment process to ensure that the planned increase in police officers occurs and that police forces are supported in the logistical challenges posed.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are committed to tackling serious violence and we are recruiting 20,000 extra police officers over the next three years to keep our communities safe.