Number of persistent young offenders rises

Justice minister disappointed by failure of many local authorities to tackle issue

News, 12 July 2006

The number of persistent offenders has risen over the last two years, according to a report published yesterday by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration.

Ministers had set a 10% target for reducing the number of persistent young offenders by 2005-06 from that recorded in 2003-04, but the report shows the figures went up from 1,201 to 1,388 over that period.

In 2002 the Executive published a 10-point Action Plan on Youth Justice and also set agencies working in youth justice a number of national standards to be met by 2006. This included a target to reduce the number of persistent young offenders by 10 per cent by March 2006, and a further 10 per cent by 2008, from a figure of 1,201 in 2003-04.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson expressed disappointment and restated her determination that the performance in this area must improved. She praised local authorities and other agencies who have achieved significant reductions in offending, and challenged other areas to do the same.

Despite an increased workload, improvements have been made by all agencies on the time taken to report, assess and decide cases. Police and Reporters met their National Standards targets, and there was an improvement in social work reporting performance.

The average time taken from the Reporter receiving an offence-only referral to a decision being reached by a Children's Hearing was reduced by four working days, from 74 in 2003-04 to 70 in 2005-06, despite increased referral volumes. Reporting on persistent young offenders was consistently quicker than the wider group.

Ms Jamieson said: "The fact that reductions of between 10 and 55% in the number of persistent young offenders were achieved in seven local authority areas shows that this is a target that can be met, and our target for 2008 remains in place.

"We have provided considerable investment in local services. Youth justice funding is now at £63 million per year.

"But too many areas are still not delivering the necessary improvements for their local communities and are not progressing towards nationally agreed standards of performance, particularly in terms of persistent young offenders.

"Where local areas are on track, we will support them to continue on that track and ensure that they continue the good work and make unbroken progress.

"Where local areas are off the pace, we will ensure they learn from those who are ahead of them, sending in additional support to help them get up to speed."

A youth justice improvement team, bringing together experienced professionals from across Scotland, is now in place to provide agencies with advice and support on best practice and to ensure they are improving local performance and delivery.