Mrs White said, “Cathy Jamieson, the Justice Minister, must acknowledge that as the rising figures on youth crime just released show that her Labour/Lib Dem Government has failed to meet their targets yet again, and that as Glasgow is bearing the brunt of this epidemic of criminal behaviour by young people, then she must accelerate the establishment of the Youth Courts programme and that Glasgow is the obvious place to start.”

She added, “The people of Glasgow are very angry that the Executive has failed yet again to tackle this problem of persistent offending amongst the 8 to 16 age group and as we face a generation of our young people falling into lives of potential criminality and violence the Justice Minister is failing to address the problem here, where it is worst. The pilot scheme for Youth Courts being set up here first won’t solve all of the problems by any means -  to do that means eradicating poverty and deprivation, something else Labour has failed to achieve – but it would be a start and a signal, at long last, that the Scottish Executive is taking Glasgow and its problems seriously.”

Note: Sandra White MSP has lodged the following Parliamentary Motion (12/7/2006).

Failure of the Scottish Executive to address Youth Crime:
That this Parliament notes with concern the continuing failure of the Scottish Executive to effectively address the rising levels of youth crime in Scotland; notes with dismay the increase in the number of Scotland-wide referrals to the Children’s Reporter by 11% and of persistent offenders by 16% whereas the stated aim of the Executive was a reduction of 10%; questions the efficacy of the Justice Minister’s strategy for tackling the problem of youth crime in Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow where the number of persistent offenders rose from 210 to 252 which represents an astonishing 55% off the reduction target: calls for the establishment of a permanent Youth Court in Glasgow to address this worrying trend as a matter of urgency.