Youth Crime Action Plan

Youth crime is completely unacceptable and can have a devastating effect on victims and communities and must be tackled head-on.

Labour’s £100 million Youth Crime Action Plan announced today sets out a comprehensive package of tough enforcement and intensive prevention measures, as well better support for victims, more visible and effective sentencing and measures to reduce re-offending.

Each year around 100,000 young people aged 10-17 enter the criminal justice system for the first time, including children here in our own town of St. Helens. The new Action Plan aims to reduce this rate by one fifth by 2020 and in turn to substantially reduce the number of young victims.

The Youth Crime Action Plan will also offer an intensive programme of action for priority areas where the problem of youth crime is greatest.

I welcome this announcement as another part of Labour's mission to build a fairer Britain for law-abiding people who play by the rules.

What do you think of these measures, and what concerns you most about youth crime?