Truro’s MP, Sarah Newton has welcomed new proposals to help young offenders turn their backs on crime.

The new plans, published last week by Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling, detail how the Government wants to ensure that young people in custodial detention have access to educational tools that could help them to rebuild their lives.

The proposals, set out in the consultation document, Transforming Youth Custody: Putting Education at the Heart of Detention, include plans to introduce personalised learning plans for all young offenders, and the creation of a network of secure colleges where detained young people can learn new skills and acquire qualifications.

These reforms are intended to set young offenders on the path to a better life, thereby reducing reoffending, and the consequent cost to the taxpayer. Mrs Newton said: “It is sobering to reflect that, in recent years, over 70 per cent of young offenders who leave custody have re-offended within a year. Given the impact this has upon the futures of those offenders, the tax payers who have to fund their custodial sentence, and society as a whole, this has to be addressed.

“The reforms published last week are a welcome step, and have the potential to turn young offeners’ lives around and prevent re-offending , to the benefit of everyone. I urge the first class probation teams and youth workers we have in Cornwall to read and respond to the consultation document so that their views and experience can help this vital set of policies develop.”

The full consultation document is open until April 30 and can be found through https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/transforming-youth-custody.