Fast route for young offenders

The minister visited a Dundee project

Fast-track youth hearings for persistent young offenders under the age of 16 are to be piloted in three areas across Scotland.

The experiment aims to ensure that the youngsters' behaviour is tackled "quickly and effectively".

The three areas are Dundee, Ayrshire and a joint scheme in East Lothian and the Borders.

Minister for Young People Cathy Jamieson said the hearings would play a key role in the executive's youth crime action plan, which specifically targets persistent offending.

These young tearaways cause misery for communities throughout Scotland

Cathy Jamieson

The Scottish Conservatives' deputy justice spokesman Bill Aitken MSP dismissed the pilot schemes and said they would only lead to "fast-track failure".

Mr Aitken said the executive proposals, along with those for sending some 16 and 17-year-olds to youth courts rather than the adult court system, would do nothing to tackle youth crime.

The Scottish National Party's justice spokeswoman, Roseanna Cunningham, said: "Fast-tracking cases through the children's hearings is all very well, but we know that there is a huge shortage of secure accommodation places in which to put young offenders.

"There is little point in reforming a system that does not deliver real sanctions against young criminals."

'Hardcore of offenders'

Announcing the scheme during a visit to Dundee, Ms Jamieson said that a disproportionate amount of youth crime was carried out by a "hardcore of persistent offenders".

She said: "These young tearaways cause misery for communities throughout Scotland.

"We must take quick and effective action to deal with repeat offenders.

"Fast-track children's hearings, together with youth courts for those aged 16 or over, will not only deal with persistent offenders quickly but will also make them face up to their actions."

The new system targets repeat offenders

Last week the minister announced a multi-million pound investment in three new schemes.

Ms Jamieson said the money would radically increase the number of programmes run by local authorities and voluntary organisations to tackle youth crime and disorder.

She said: "This would include, for example, projects where offenders are made to repair the damage they have done or to meet victims, as well as projects which offer young people constructive activities to keep them away from trouble.

Safer places

"It is vital that the new fast-track hearings have at their disposal a full range of programmes which can be accessed quickly, and will provide the intensive supervision that young offenders need to change their behaviour.

The minister said Dundee, Ayrshire, East Lothian and the Borders were chosen because they had strong youth justice teams and programmes in place to make the new hearings work, as well having a mix of urban and rural communities.

Ms Jamieson added: "The fast-track hearings, together with the other elements of the youth crime action plan, will help reduce offending and go a long way to making our communities safer places to live ."