 Teachers can tell problem children as early as age six, Mr Blair said |
Problem families must be warned they have gone "off the rails" before they go on to become "serious law-breakers", Prime Minister Tony Blair has said. Teachers could spot children going off the rails as early as six, he said.
More "targeted early intervention" was need, he said, but admitted it was a "heavy thing to say" if no offence had yet been committed.
Civil liberties were "important" but so was the right not "to have my window broken", he told the liaison committee.
'Gear up'
Labour MP John Denham, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, asked why crime was not falling faster, as the UK was the industrialised country which spent the highest proportion of national income on law and order.
Mr Blair said the government had to "gear up" to a greater threat than ever before from problems like drug abuse and anti-social behaviour.
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Policies such as anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) had been part of an overall programme.
The standard of proof needed to issue an Asbo - which can ban people from continuing specific anti-social behaviour or from being in certain areas - is lower than that for a criminal conviction.
Critics say this undermines civil liberties and accuse the government of interfering too much in community life.
Mr Blair acknowledged it was "a change in the way the traditional system works".
But he added: "The worry in most communities is 'how do we get the Asbo?' and not 'why is it there?'
"We have got to make sure we don't live on a different planet from ordinary people."
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Too often, the system targeted "the offence, not the offender".
Mr Blair said: "If you talk to any primary school teacher today, they will be able to tell you the kids they think are going off the rails aged six or seven.
"The way you deal with dysfunctional families is a very big part of going forward."
He added: "The real problem we have is if you make something like Sure Start, the families that you want to get engaged in it are families that don't always come forward.
"Therefore we have got to have a different way of going out and making sure they are bound into the system.
"In my view we have got to say to these families before they get into serious law-breaking 'You are off the rails'."
If people did not "abide by the rules" they would face punishment, Mr Blair said.
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