Why we must act

Street crime in London has risen sharply in the last year. We all know it. I have made no bones about it or about my determination to tackle it. It is early days but our strategies to reduce robbery and bring its perpetrators to justice are starting to pay off.

Like car crime and domestic burglary, street crime in London has begun to fall - by 14 per cent across the whole of the Met and by 21 per cent in the boroughs targeted by the Safer Streets initiative. The Met have done well, but there is more across the whole of government we must do to continue to bring down crime and restore the public's confidence.

Dealing with teenagers and children who believe that their age makes them untouchable is one of the biggest single challenges I face. All too often, they flout the law, laugh at the police and walk away from court free to offend again. This must stop.

Today, I have decided to change the grounds on which young offenders aged 12 to 16 can be remanded to secure accommodation. At the moment, only violent teenagers can be taken off the streets. I am extending this to cover those persistently carrying out crimes such as car theft or burglary and encourage the courts to use existing powers, with new remand accommodation available to them.

I am closing the loophole in the law that allows these young persistent offenders to walk away from court on bail, free to create further havoc in the community. There is an unanswerable case for giving magistrates and judges the ability to take these youngsters off the streets.

These powers will come into force first in London and the other nine areas that are part of the Government's anti-robbery initiative from June, going nationwide from September. I know this will be welcomed by all those who have despaired that the courts have seemed powerless to take these 12 to 16-year-olds off the streets.

But crime is not restricted to those aged 12 and over. Last month's picture on the front page of the Evening Standard showing an 11-year-old girl smashing a shop window was shocking. A recent case in Cardiff saw an 11-year-old boy charged with nearly 70 offences bailed to roam the streets, putting others and himself in grave danger.

This cannot go on. I am looking seriously at how we can now strengthen the law in respect of those 10 and 11-year-olds who commit persistent but low-level crime, and who fall outside the range of powers which I am laying before Parliament today. I shall be saying more about this when we publish our criminal justice White Paper in the next few months.

We are sending out a clear warning to youngsters who think that they are above the law - you will be caught and you will be punished. And to make sure that message sinks in, we are expanding supervision and surveillance schemes in the community to stop people slipping through the net.

Parents also have a responsibility in ensuring that their children stay off the streets and stay out of trouble. Most parents don't want their children running wild, but there are some who either cannot or will not take control of their own children.

This is why we need to match greater powers for the courts; extending the use of Parenting Orders and requiring parents to take greater responsibility for their child's actions, as well as attend counselling and guidance sessions.

If parents fail to comply, further decisive action will be taken holding them to account for their child's behaviour.

My starting point is that parents who kick their children out on the street in the evening or allow young children to drink alcohol and create chaos are as guilty of child abuse as if they had broken their arm.

In short, we are attacking the problem of youth crime on two fronts, prevention and punishment, expanding and strengthening measures already in place including additional after-school and holiday programmes which keep youngsters out of trouble. These are vital.

But we are also serious about taking immediate action against those who are already causing chaos in our communities. While I am Home Secretary, age will never be an excuse to avoid the law of the land.