YORK'S new blueprint for tackling youth crime in the city goes before council decision makers this week.

The new three-year Youth Justice Plan, unveiled by York Youth Offending Team earlier this month, will be considered at a meeting of City of York Council's executive, along with an assessment of the city's Youth Offending Team and its partners.

The report highlights a number of issues, including a recent performance assessment by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, which ranked York's team joint tenth out of 155 teams nationwide.

The report also pinpoints some key successes, including the reduction in the number of young offenders aged ten to 17 by seven per cent over three years, and a ten per cent cut in youth crime generally in 2001.

One of the main achievements has been the reduction in the time it takes between a young offender being arrested and sentenced. This has dropped from 140 days to 51 days, against a government target of 71 days.

The reduction - one of the best in the country - has been achieved through teamwork between the Youth Offending Team, the police, Crown Prosecution Service and the courts.

Coun Bob Scrase, executive member for community safety and local affairs, said: "I am very keen to congratulate the work of all the team, not only in being ranked tenth out of 155 teams in the country, but perhaps more importantly for our residents, reducing crime committed by ten to 17-year-olds by ten per cent. The commitment of local and national government on this issue is clear and I hope further measures will continue this trend."

The report also highlights how the team has cut the number of children reoffending.

David Poole, Youth Offending Team manager, said: "The team and its partners have been working extremely hard in the past 18 months to reduce youth crime in the city, and so to reduce the likelihood of residents becoming the victims of crime. It is clear that this work is paying off and that we have an excellent youth crime reduction service.

"The team and its partners are not complacent, however, and we are planning new initiatives to capitalise on this success over the coming two to three years. Much of this will involve us supporting communities themselves in tackling crime."

Updated: 12:47 Monday, October 28, 2002