Financial Costs
The Audit Commission in its report Misspent Youth: Young People & Crime (1996)
estimated that public services spent around £1 billion a year on processing and dealing
with offending by young people:
|
Public Service
|
Estimated Expenditure
|
|
Police
|
£660m
|
|
Legal Aid
|
£ 42m
|
|
Crown Prosecution Service
|
£ 24m
|
|
Courts
|
£ 13m
|
|
Social Services
|
£200m
|
|
Probation
|
£ 12m
|
|
Prison
|
£ 40m
|
The NACRO report Wasted Lives: Counting the cost of juvenile offending (NACRO/Prince’s
Trust 1998) estimates:
the average response cost in dealing with the behaviour of a young offender
around £52,000 (made up of prosecution, incarceration and supervision costs as well
as family intervention and care).
the direct cost of offending to the community to average around £22,700 per
young offender
For further information on how to cost crime see The Economic & Social Costs of
Crime (2000) S. Brand & R. Price Home Office Research Study 217
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors217.pdf
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