Young Scots problems mapped

March 18, 2002 in Adults, Child safeguarding, Children, Substance misuse

The
problems of young Scots have been comprehensively mapped throughout the country
for the first time ever in an exercise carried out by the Prince’s Trust –
Scotland.

The
exercise looked at the 770,066 people aged 14 to 25 in Scotland, focusing on a
variety of issues on the basis of local authority boundaries. The Mapping Exclusion Report, which revealed
some surprising results, was welcomed by the Scottish executive as having a
crucial role in future resource allocation.

Cathy
Jamieson, minister for education and young people, said: “All relevant organisations will have the
chance for the first time to examine whether the nature of local provision
matches local need.”

On
a national level the report reveals that in 2000 a total of 11,191 young people
were looked after and 2,1361 children were on the child protection
register. Around 350,000 crimes are
committed each year by people under 20 years old, the equivalent of 40% of all
recorded crime. But the most
interesting dimension of the report is the comparison between local
authorities.

The
main findings included:

–
Aberdeen City Council has the highest rate of children on the child protection
register and the highest rate of crime.

–
Dundee City Council has the worst rate of qualifications and the highest levels
of teenage pregnancy.

–
Argyll and Bute council has the highest rate of young drug abusers.

–
Fife Council has the highest rate claiming benefits.

–
Glasgow City council has most school exclusions, highest drug related offences
and most homelessness.

Euan
Davidson, director of the Prince’s Trust – Scotland, said: “The statistics show the scale of some of
the problems. We hope the report will
streamline and improve co-operation between agencies in the way services are
provided for those young people who face the greatest barriers in life.”

The
Scottish executive is working on a similar mapping exercise which is expected
to be published later this year.

NOTE: Copies of The Mapping Exclusion Report available from The Prince’s Trust –
Scotland on 0141 204 4409