A BLITZ on youth crime across the region - including street sweeps for troublemakers and 'payback' punishments - has reaped big rewards, it was claimed yesterday.
The government hailed the success of its tough 'Youth Crime Action Plan', pointing to sharp falls in the number of people complaining about yobbish behaviour.
It linked that trend to concerted efforts to intervene early in problem areas, take troublemakers off the street and force offenders to carry out community punishments.
But the Conservatives claimed "booze-fuelled antisocial behaviour" was still rife - and that residents did not believe that the criminal justice system was "on their side".
The £100m Action Plan was launched, in July 2008, in 69 areas, including Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton-on-Tees and Sunderland.
It followed evidence that there had been no reduction in the levels of youth crime since 2003, or in the proportion of young people carrying a knife.
The package targeted 'early intervention programmes' at the 20,000 worst problem families, whose children were at the greatest risk of becoming prolific offenders.
Key initiatives included removing young people from the streets late at night and allowing the public to nominate useful projects to be carried out by offenders.
Eighteen months on, ministers pointed to 5,088 young people targeted by after-school patrols, a further 21,584 approached by 'street-based youth teams' and the 2,514 who did 'payback' tasks as evidence of hard work.
Most important, many police forces reported big falls in complaints about antisocial behaviour and youth crime between June to September 2009, compared with the same period in 2008.
Those areas included Darlington (down 24 per cent), Sunderland (down 15 per cent) and Gateshead (down seven per cent ), but figures were "not available" for Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and other areas.
David Hanson, a home office minister, said: "We have made some excellent progress in the North-East. Early indicators show our efforts are making a really positive difference to the lives of young people and communities.
"But we are not complacent. There is still much work to be done and I am committed to ensuring our young people and communities are on the right track and our streets remain safe for everyone."
But Chris Grayling, the Shadow Home Secretary, called for local authorities to be given tougher powers to shut down problem pubs and for instant "grounding orders" for yobs.
He added: "People up and down this country are hugely frustrated with our criminal justice system. They feel that it's just not on their side anymore."
Mr Hanson said the Youth Crime Action Plan had spent £3.85m in the North-East and had "benefited" almost 31,700 young people in total.
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