Junior Asbos 'cost £500,000 each'

Only 14 Asbos have ever been taken out against under-16s

Each junior Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo) has cost £500,000 since they were introduced four years ago, the Scottish Government has revealed.

Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing told Holyrood that £7m of government funding had been spent on Asbos for under-16s since 2004.

But only 14 of the orders have ever been issued.

Mr Ewing was unveiling a new youth offending strategy which will focus on early intervention and prevention.

He argued it was little surprise that the appropriateness and effectiveness of junior Asbos had been questioned when so few had been issued despite the large amounts of public money that had been spent on them.

If £7m has been devoted to a group of measures called junior Asbos which have resulted in 14 junior Asbos being issued then by my arithmetic the cost is £500,000 per junior Asbo Fergus Ewing MSP Community safety minister

He added: "The road to Polmont and Barlinnie is paved with good policy intentions.

"I think we have to take into account the effectiveness of the expenditure of public money.

"If £7m has been devoted to a group of measures called junior Asbos which have resulted in 14 junior Asbos being issued then by my arithmetic the cost is £500,000 per junior Asbo."

The Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, which became law in 2004, extended Asbos and electronic tagging to under-16s for the first time, while the police were also given powers to disperse groups of young people.

Mr Ewing pointed to an Audit Scotland report published last year which indicated that the impact of Asbos in improving youth offending levels had not yet been demonstrated.

The minister said that if the £7m had instead been spent on creating more choices and opportunities for youngsters, instead of junior ASBOs, the result in terms of outcomes "might be more successful".

'Positive opportunities'

The government's new youth justice framework, Preventing Offending by Young People - A Framework for Action, has been developed along with council leaders, police chiefs, the children's reporter and Crown Office.

"This government has clearly signalled our belief that to be effective, action to tackle offending and anti-social behaviour must be taken at the earliest possible stage," Mr Ewing said.

"We are determined to ensure that all young people have more choices and chances, with positive opportunities available for all."

Mr Ewing said the framework covers pre-birth and early years to the transition to adult services.

Labour's Cathy Craigie questioned whether the success of Asbos should be measured in their numbers.

"When Asbos were issued it would mean that other methods and interventions had failed," she said.

"It seems strange to me to measure that as an indicator of success or otherwise."

Her party also accused the government of going soft on youth crime and failing affected communities.

We really have to consider whether or not the children's hearing system is equipped to deal with that type of offender Bill Aitken MSP

Conservative MSP Bill Aitken called for a review of the 1968 legislation which still guides approaches to youth justice.

"The 16-year-old of that era was quite different to the 16-year-old of today," he said.

"We really have to consider whether or not the children's hearing system is equipped to deal with that type of offender. The youth courts would most certainly seem to be the answer."

Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Pringle highlighted positive work by school teachers in pointing children away from trouble, but he raised concerns about the government's plans to increase the age limit for buying alcohol in off-licenses to 21.

He also warned against measures such as the "mosquito" device, designed to emit a high pitch noise only heard by young people.

"Such devices may seem like a quick fix, but the reality is that they merely serve to indiscriminately demonise young people, dangerously widening the divide between young and old," he said.