| Dundee City Council today insisted it was in the forefront of promoting schemes to deal with young offenders, despite claims by the Executive that councils were not taking enough responsibility on the issue.
A report published today into Scotland’s youth justice system says funding for support services for young offenders should be put on a stronger footing, with MSPs voicing profound concerns, saying organisations involved needed more financial certainty and stability.
The report said there was too much short-term, initiative-based funding, with single projects funded from a “confusing” variety of courses.
However, a spokesman for the city council said today the council had fully co-operated with the Executive on a number of issues, including recreational schemes, electronic tagging, the use of anti-social behaviour orders and a fast-tracking scheme for young offenders that was piloted in Dundee.
The Holyrood report maintains too many councils thought youth offending should be tackled by social workers, and said other council departments, such as education and housing, should also be involved.
Schemes to divert youngsters away from a life of crime were said to be patchy and not well developed, and there was a wide variation in the programmes available to them. |
