 Figures are expected to show a rise in disorder |
A small number of hardcore young offenders are still causing problems across Scotland, figures have shown. Last year the Scottish Executive said it hoped the figures for young people persistently in trouble would fall by 10% by March this year.
But a report has shown a 15% increase over two years, from 1,201 to 1,388.
The Scottish Executive expressed disappointment at the rise, while the SNP accused the justice department of losing its grip on the situation.
The system of calculating offending has been challenged by Moray Council, which claims to have reduced youth crime.
The report shows a total of 1,388 youngsters aged between eight and 16 qualified as persistent young offenders in 2005/06.
This is a 10% rise on last year's total of 1,260 and 15% on the figure of 1,201 for the baseline year of 2003/04, the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration annual report shows.
Three years ago, the Scottish Executive changed its definition of a persistent young offender to someone aged between eight and 16 who was referred to the children's reporter on five or more occasions in any six month period.
An executive target to reduce youth crime by a total of 20% from the 2003/04 baseline by 2008 remains.
Justice funds
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson praised local authorities and agencies which had achieved reductions but warned that the situation must improve.
She said: "Hard-working families and communities across Scotland want government and local agencies to deliver two things in terms of youth justice.
"They want to see the behaviour of persistent offenders challenged and changed. And, above all, they want to see fewer crimes carried out against them, their families, their property or their neighbours."
 The definition of a persistent young offender has been changed |
The minister said investment in youth justice was running at �63m a year and youth offending was being tackled more quickly.
"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," she added.
Christine Grahame MSP, the SNP's social justice spokeswoman, said the figures showed that Ms Jamieson had no grip over the growing problem of persistent young offending or the agencies which were meant to be tackling the issue.
"The continual question marks over the quality and robustness of the figures continue despite ministers' own external consultants overseeing the data for more than two years," she said.
"We still don't know if the figures they have produced today give the real picture of the extent and magnitude of persistent young offending."
'Artificial' low
Association of Directors of Social Work spokeswoman Michelle Miller said: "Child protection reforms and police detection rates have led to a surge in referrals, not just for the offending behaviour that these figures focus on, but also for children referred to the reporter because they are in need of care and protection."
She warned that the wider system of support, care and protection had been underfunded by the executive for several years.
Local authority body Cosla said the problem of young offenders was complex and challenging, but that councils were determined to achieve long-term progress.
Social Work spokesman Eric Jackson said: "Yes, persistent offender referrals are up, but the report also shows that on average the number of referrals per offender is down.
"This shows that once a persistent offender has been identified, councils are successful in reducing offending."
Glasgow was shown to have the biggest problem, with 252 persistent young offenders.
Other areas including Edinburgh and Dundee had fewer than last year, while Moray also fared badly.
Grampian Police and the area's youth justice team said offending had been significantly reduced.
Council officials pointed out that even Ms Jamieson had applauded their work.
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Too many areas are still not delivering the necessary improvements for their local communities
