Child custody budget plan revealed

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If local authorities had to foot the bill for every child in their area who went to jail, it would give them a greater incentive to prevent offending and offer "robust alternatives to custody", the Trust said. The budget currently stands at £279 million, it added.

The plan is in a report called 'Criminal Damage', which comes in the run-up to the expected publication of the Government's youth crime action plan, the Trust said.

The Youth Justice Board (YJB), set up in 1998 to lead the Government's drive to cut youth crime, had set itself a target to reduce by 10% the number of children in custody between 2005 and 2008.

However, figures published earlier this year revealed that it had instead presided over an 8% increase, with more than 3,000 children in jail in April 2008 and the number expected to rise further this year, the Trust said.

Local authorities already control budgets for non-custodial sentences. Under the plan, the YJB would continue to manage children's jails, but with stronger links to the local authorities from which the children come.

The report says that despite the official policy of jailing children only in exceptional circumstances, many children in jail have not committed serious or violent offences.

At least one third are locked up for non-violent crimes such as breaking Asbos or theft. In 2006, 286 children were imprisoned for motoring offences, 192 for drug offences, 26 for fraud and forgery and two for drunkenness, the Trust said.

The number of children sentenced to custody in England and Wales more than tripled between 1991 and 2006 and the UK now has the highest proportion of children in custody in Western Europe.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents more than 400 councils across England and Wales, said: "Calls to give councils responsibility for young offenders could be a big step forward in the drive to prevent and tackle youth crime and re-offending. However these proposals will only work if councils receive the funding and powers they need to do the job well."