Given the amount of crime committed by young people, it is sometimes tempting to think that a whole generation has gone off the rails. That, though, is far from the case.

It has become increasingly clear in recent years that much youth crime is carried out by a relatively small number of people. In fact according to Jim Brady, the manager of a Bradford scheme designed to reduce re-offending, less than five per cent of youth offenders are responsible for more than a quarter of youth crime.

It is these persistent offenders that the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme is targeting, apparently with considerable success, in the belief that (according to Mr Brady) "if you can make an impact on that group you can make a disproportionately big effect over all youth crime".

This partnership between police, the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders, Bradford Council and the youth courts is now reported to be making good strides thanks to its policy of intensive supervision of the children involved.

The cost of the project might well raise a few eyebrows. Annual government funding of £350,000 to deal with up to 54 children per year works out at just under £70,000 per youngster.

However, that seems more reasonable when compared with the cost of the police time needed to chase up every new offence, the court cost of prosecution, the very high cost of keeping a young person in custody and the crippling, long-term burden on society of someone who becomes trapped at an early age in a life of crime.