| Mike Pringle MSP, Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson, and member of the Justice 2 Committee praised Dundee and said the local authority were an example of good partnership working and good practice.
Mr Pringle’s comments came as the committee revealed in a report that those involved in educating young offenders did not fully understand their role, were struggling to exchange information and were worried about legal restraints in sharing information.
However, Dundee was handed a glowing report by the Edinburgh South MSP and was said to be setting a good example that other local authorities should follow.
The report recommended putting local councils under a stronger legal duty to take responsibility for young offenders.
The report, published in June following an inquiry by the cross-party committee into Scotland’s youth justice system, found that too many council workers saw the issue as the job of their social work colleagues.
It added that schemes to divert youngsters away from a life of crime were “patchy and not well developed”, and said ministers should give clearer guidance on what should be available.
The report also said there was too much short-term funding for projects, which came from a confusing variety of sources, each with different timescales.
Dundee was selected as one of seven councils to take part in a scheme along with Edinburgh, Glasgow and Highland that shared £2 million plus further funding of £5 million for 2005/06.
The number of persistent young offenders in Dundee fell from 109 to 93 this year.
Dundee City Council social work convener Councillor Helen Wright said, “Dundee has a range of services in place to prevent crime, from youth work, sports development and home school support, through to many voluntary activities.
“For those picked up at the early stages, services such as the Police Warning scheme, SACRO, the Compass scheme and the social work department work closely with the child, their families and education to find out what the problems are, and then try to help divert these youngsters away from crime.
“For more serious or persistent troublemakers, there are a wide range of intensive community and residential responses.
“While the Children Reporter and Children's Hearing have a range of options to call these children and their parents to account, the council will not hesitate to use the new powers within the Antisocial Behaviour Act, including Intensive Support and Monitoring Services (ISMS, or “tagging”), ASBOs and Parenting Orders.
“The progress made by Dundee suggests that our approach is the right one to tackle offending and work towards Dundee being a safer city.” |
