The report called for young offenders to be kept in school

Head teachers need to be more closely involved with keeping young offenders out of trouble, the Audit Commission and the National Audit Office said.

The Youth Justice 2004 study called for targets to keep pupils in school.

But the head teachers' union warned that the aim should not be at the expense of other pupils' education.

'Lack of incentives'

The study, a follow-up to a 1996 report on youth offending, found offending by young people in a local area was strongly associated with the size of the total out-of-school population.

Those who are responsible for schools - namely the heads - need to be much more actively involved in the work of Youth Offending Teams John Graham Youth Justice 2004 author

It was "not uncommon" for pupils permanently excluded from school to wait a year before being provided with alternative education, the study said.

It added: "The lack of incentives for schools to invest in those who are failing academically, especially if they are disruptive, is a major obstacle to inclusion".

The study said a 15-year-old boy, known as "James", cost the taxpayer more than �150,000 since he was five , following sessions with education specialists and psychologists and custodial sentences.

"If he had had the right sort of family support and learning support, and all sorts of things we think could have helped him, we found there was �100,000 that could have been saved throughout his life," the National Audit Office's Phil Gibby said.

The report recommended the development of a public service agreement target for schools on inclusion, "with detailed guidance on how to achieve it".

Resources call

But the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, David Hart, said targets for schools should be reduced.

He said head teachers would like to see excluded pupils kept in mainstream education, but only if that could be achieved without damaging the education of other pupils.

Resources would also need to be provided for the concentrated help and support such pupils would require, he added.

The Audit Commission's Judy Renshaw said: "Schools need to be more closely involved".

"They need to be given better incentives to do this and work with difficult and troublesome young people."

Area forums

The author of the report, John Graham, added: "Those who are responsible for schools - namely the heads - need to be much more actively involved in the work of Youth Offending Teams.

"They (the children) should have every chance of being brought back into mainstream schools."

Young offenders on the new programmes are now less likely to be reconvicted than before James Strachan Audit Commission chairman

Head teachers should establish a forum in their area and send a delegate to the youth offending teams in a bid to improve co-operation, he added.

But overall the report, which looked at the impact of reforms in youth justice since 1996, said the new system had been successful.

It praised the Youth Justice Board's Intensive Surveillance and Supervision Programme, which has seen reconviction rates of serious young offenders fall by between 30% and 50%.

It also found young offenders were being dealt with much more quickly.

"These are encouraging findings," said Audit Commission chairman James Strachan.

"Young offenders on the new programmes are now less likely to be reconvicted than before."