Education drive for young offenders

Eighty per cent of young people supervised by youth offending
teams (Yots) will be involved in suitable full-time education by
March this year, rising to 90 per cent by next March if the
Connexions service and Youth Justice Board meet their joint
target.

Sixty per cent of young offenders supervised by Yots have been
assessed as having special educational needs, and 41 per cent are
truanting regularly from school.

Four out of five young people who come into the youth justice
system have been out of education for a significant period of
time.

A recent survey of self-reported youth crime showed that about a
quarter of 11 to 16 year olds in school, and two-thirds of excluded
pupils, had committed an offence in the previous 12 months.

Lord Warner, who chairs the YJB, has admitted that many Yots
have a long way to go to reach the target, but said some have
already reached it.

A quarter of the juvenile custodial population has a reading age
of seven or less, and nearly half have literacy and numeracy levels
below the average 11 year old, according to the YJB.