KIRKLEES and Calderdale are to be among the first areas to test an extended version of a tough scheme to tackle young offenders.
From September, courts in 11 test areas across the UK will be able to impose longer Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes on persistent young offenders, including electronic tagging.
ISSPs are the strongest community punishment a court can give young offenders. They are made for six months.
But from September they will be extended to 12 months in the test areas.
ISSPs are made by courts as part of supervision orders, community rehabilitation orders or detention and training orders.
They involve strict supervision and surveillance, including electronic tagging and curfews.
Each ISSP is individually tailored to address the cause of a young person's offending.
Jackie Key, manager of Calderdale and Kirklees ISSP, said the tougher orders were not for first time offenders but for persistent and serious young criminals.
She added: "The ISSP in Calderdale and Kirklees has significantly reduced offending.
"The extended ISSP offers the opportunity to monitor, supervise and reduce the risk to the community posed by more serious young offenders."
The extended ISSP test schemes have been brought in by the Youth Justice Board, to test new powers introduced last November in the 2003 Anti-Social Behaviour Act.
The idea is to tackle persistent young offenders, who are responsible for 25% of all youth crime.
Sir Charles Pollard, acting chairman of the Youth Justice Board, said: "Dealing with young people in their own community means the causes of offending behaviour can be effectively addressed.
"The current six-month programme is suitable for most of our target group.
"But there is a hard core of young offenders that can benefit from an extended version," said Sir Charles.
"It is a very positive step forward in the fight to divert some of the most persistent and serious young offenders from a life of crime."
