Government urged to act on would-be young offenders

The Government needs to place more emphasis on early intervention when it comes to identifying and dealing with potential young offenders, a group of MPs said today.

A report by the cross-party Home Affairs Committee praised initiatives such as the Sure Start scheme but said efforts to prevent opportunities for crime needed to be improved.

It also criticised the use of short custodial sentences, but conceded that the high level of breaches meant it was hard to advocate community service as an alternative.

The committee, chaired by Keith Vaz, noted that the average cost to taxpayers of having a young person in the criminal justice system was £200,000 by the age of 16. This compares to less than £50,000 needed to support a youth stay out of the system, it was claimed.

As such, more should be done to prevent vulnerable youths turning to crime, it was suggested.

The report states: "A more effective long-term prevention strategy must focus on early intervention with young children and their parents.

"The Government has made a good start in this area, particularly through the Sure Start initiative, but needs to go further, ensuring that support reaches the most vulnerable and is available throughout the childhood years."

The committee noted that the rate of re-offending had gone down but that there was still a problem with young men and those serving short-term jail sentences.

"Short custodial sentences make effective rehabilitation almost impossible, but the high level of breaches regrettably make it difficult for us to give unqualified support to greater use of community sentences as an alternative," the report states.