This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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£1 million for youth crime prevention
25/06/2003
Renewed action has been promised on prevention and
intervention to tackle youth crime and associated
anti-social behaviour.
Local authority Community Safety Partnerships will get
an additional £1 million this summer to improve access -
including subsidised entry - to local leisure and sports
facilities for young people.
Speaking to a youth crime conference in Edinburgh today,
the Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson urged critics of the
Executive's proposals to tackle anti-social behaviour to
"see the full picture" of activity and accept that a
"system without effective sanctions was no protection at
all for Scotland's communities".
Almost a year to the day since the Scottish Executive
published its Youth Crime Action Plan, Ms Jamieson
said:
"We should be proud of the young people of Scotland -
the majority of them make a positive contribution to our
communities. And as a poll published at the weekend shows,
young people are just as likely to be the victims of crime
as the perpetrators.
"But we would be kidding ourselves if we think that
youth crime and anti-social behaviour present anything but
real and pressing problems in communities across
Scotland.
"We make no apology for putting the fight against youth
crime and anti-social behaviour at the top of our list of
priorities. It was at the heart of the Partnership
Agreement and the Scottish Executive will tomorrow publish
a consultation document on our strategy for tackling
anti-social behaviour.
"Taking firm action to tackle anti-social behaviour and
its causes is essential if we are to improve the quality of
life for Scotland's people, but it cannot be seen in
isolation from our strategy for tackling youth crime in all
of its forms. Our Youth Crime Action Plan signalled the
direction of this Executive - our work on anti-social
behaviour will, I believe, take us further down the same
road.
"Given that we published our Youth Crime Action Plan
only a year ago this week, progress has been remarkable. We
said we would pilot fast track Children's Hearings for
persistent offenders under 16 - the first fast track
hearings took place in March. We said we would establish a
Youth Courts feasibility project for 16 and 17 year olds
whose persistent offending and other personal circumstances
call for a robust response from the criminal justice system
- the first referrals to the Youth Court were made last
month.
"Many of you will have seen media coverage since the
weekend about some of the areas we will be consulting on to
tackle anti-social behaviour. I know that there will be a
range of reactions to what is proposed - that is why we are
keen to have a genuine debate around some key issues.
"But we must accept that if we are serious about
tackling youth offending, we need to think seriously about
solutions. And we need to recognise that all of us with a
stake in youth justice services share a responsibility to
improve the quality of life for individuals and
communities.
"It is no longer good enough for individuals and parts
of the system to blame other parts for problems. We want
people and agencies to say what they can do to help, not
just what someone else has not done. We remain committed to
effective prevention and intervention measures as the first
two levels of activity in breaking the misery and mayhem
caused by youth crime and anti-social behaviour.
"We have established a youth justice services team in
every local authority area of Scotland. The picture right
across Scotland is encouraging. Intervention is working. In
North Lanarkshire, a Barnardo's project has seen an average
reduction in offending of 67%. The Echo Project in West
Lothian which targets those who have offended on up to four
occasions has seen an 80% reduction in offending.
"And today I can announce a further £1 million for local
authorities to spend this summer to offer young people
positive alternatives to hanging about the streets through
subsidised entry into swimming pools and other sports
facilities. We know from past experience that getting
adolescents into healthy and fun pursuits generally leads
to reduced levels of crime and anti-social behaviour.
"This is in no way a reward for offending behaviour. I
expect these resources to benefit young people more widely
within each Community Safety Partnership area.
"However, prevention and intervention measures are
undermined by a system that does not have effective,
flexible sanctions. That may be unpopular with some
agencies and critics of what we propose. But I would say to
these critics - could you look the residents of our
communities in the eye and genuinely argue for the status
quo? I believe in young people. I believe in prevention and
intervention first and foremost. But a system without
effective sanctions is no protection at all for our
communities and we will set out for consultation a range of
new proposals tomorrow."
Cathy Jamieson was speaking at a Youth Crime Conference
organised by Neil Stewart Associates at the Caledonian
Hotel, Edinburgh.
The Scottish Executive published its Youth Crime Action
Plan on 27 June 2003.
The £1 million allocated to this fund comes from within
the Justice Department's resources for 2003-04 announced in
the Scottish Executive's spending review last
September.
The £1m crime prevention initiative aims to provide
subsidised access for 12-16 year olds to a range of leisure
facilities during the school summer break. The fund will be
distributed through a formula based on population and
percentage of crimes per head of population. Subject to
acceptance of suitable proposals, the amount of award to
the Community Safety Partnership in each local authority
area is as below:
Area Award
Stirling £22,733
Falkirk £28,790
Clackmannanshire £20,503
Dumfries & Galloway £29,699
Fife £52,937
Aberdeenshire £31,206
Aberdeen City £50,983
Moray £19,646
City of Edinburgh £70,541
East Lothian £20,961
Midlothian £22,463
West Lothian £34,514
Scottish Borders £22,919
Highland £33,803
Orkney Islands £6,297
Shetland Islands £8,243
Eilean Siar £8,682
Argyll & Bute £19,253
West Dunbartonshire £30,856
City of Glasgow £89,499
East Dunbartonshire £20,277
Inverclyde £28,651
North Lanarkshire £47,937
South Lanarkshire £44,924
Renfrewshire £36,307
East Renfrewshire £18,759
East Ayrshire £29,449
North Ayrshire £31,054
South Ayrshire £26,177
Perth & Kinross £27,064
Angus £23,615
Dundee City £41,260
£1,000,000