The government's five-year target to cut juvenile offender reconviction rates has been met four years early, according to the latest statistics.
The number of young offenders reconvicted for a crime within 12 months of the original conviction, reprimand or final warning has fallen by 14.6 per cent, the latest figures show.
The aim was to achieve a 5 per cent reduction in the reconviction rate of young offenders by 2004.
Home Office minister Hilary Benn attributed the success to the Home Office, Youth Justice Board, youth offending teams and other agencies working together across England and Wales.
The latest quarterly youth justice figures released last Friday showed the average time it takes to deal with a persistent young offender had been cut to 67 days.
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