YOUNGSTERS serving custodial sentences in Yorkshire are to benefit from better education and training to lift them out of the spiral of crime.

New figures have revealed 12 per cent of young offenders behind bars are from Yorkshire.

The average cost of a youth custodial place is £100,000 a year – sometimes as high as £200,000 – while 73 per cent of young offenders commit further crime within a year of leaving custody.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has now presented a Green Paper which sets out a new approach to youth custody.

He said Yorkshire would be one of the areas which would see the benefits.

“We cannot go on just doing more of the same, pouring more money into a system which doesn’t work in the hope of a different outcome,” he said.

“I want to see new models – perhaps something like secure colleges, providing education in a period of detention – rather than detention with education as an afterthought. I want young people to get the education and skills they need to turn their backs on crime for good.”

The consultation on how to change the youth custody system is involving professionals from the education sector and custodial services, as well as organisations which help and support young people.