The Highland Council welcomes youth crime funding announcement

The Highland Council has welcomed the announcement today (Monday) by Communities Minister Fergus Ewing, that funding for Youth Crime Intensive Support and Monitoring Services will continue into the new financial year, and will be rolled out across the country. The Minister’s announcement recognises the success of youth justice services in Highland, a partnership between the Council’s Youth Action Teams and NCH (Scotland), in reducing youth crime.

The announcement follows publication by the Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration of figures that show there are 24 persistent young offenders in Highland, three less than at this time last year and 41 less than in 2005.  This reduction confirms an ongoing positive trend in Highland – which coincides with the formation of the Intensive Support Service (ISS), as part of a pilot with six other authorities.  The service is operated by NCH (Scotland. 

Bill Alexander, Head of Children’s Services in Highland, said: “Around 80 young people from Highland, who presented a serious risk to themselves or others, have been on the Intensive Support Service over the last two and a half years.  A small number of these young people wore an electronic tag as a condition of the service.

“More than two-thirds of young people fully completed the programme, and most were involved in lower rates of offending, substance misuse and other antisocial behaviours as a consequence.  Ongoing monitoring indicates that 80% of young people had a significant reduction in offending rates when on ISS, and that this success continues for those who have become young adults.”

An evaluation of ISS in Highland by researchers from the University of Edinburgh has confirmed the positive outcomes.  Professor Morag MacNeil said: “The strength of the approach lies in the level of engagement by skilled and committed practitioners in the lives of the young people. Good integration with other key services, particularly the Youth Action Teams, has also been an important factor here.  What the young people say is that they appreciate being able to work with people who truly listen to them and try to get a better understanding of where they stand and what they have to deal with rather than just pigeonhole them into pre-existing programmes.”

Councillor Liz MacDonald, vice-chairman of the Council’s Housing & Social Work Committee, said: “We greatly welcome this announcement by the Minister, which recognises the excellent work being done by local services to reduce youth crime.  The Intensive Support Service has been able to achieve real change in the lives of these young offenders – which has helped reduce the number of offenders and the number of victims.  This has also reduced the cost to society in future years.”

Ann Darlington, Assistant Director of NCH (Scotland) added: “NCH Scotland is proud of the work our Intensive Support Service and the contribution we have made to the success of youth justice services in Highland. This is an excellent example of effective partnership working and demonstrates what can be achieved when all agencies work in an integrated way to achieve good outcomes for young people. I believe that the success of the approach in Highland is down to our commitment to provide individualised services which focus on the needs of each young person. None of the agencies are complacent and we are all striving to continue to reduce persistent offending and enable young people to reach their potential.”