Escaping the concrete jungle - No U-turn over gangs - letter from Cllr Daniel Astaire Cabinet member for community safety

Published: 19 March 2010

THERE has been no U-turn over the gangs project, as your paper reported, (‘Holiday’ go-ahead for gang, March 12). 

Before any decision was taken we simply ensured that we had explored all available options and checked that the courses actually worked before going ahead.

Brathay has a proven track record with a 70 per cent success rate in getting youngsters out of gangs and back on the straight and narrow before they are drawn into a life defined by spells in prison. 

And a life in prison is a significant cost to the taxpayer. 

The cost to society of gang culture and reoffending is substantial. 

Six in every 10 young offenders who are imprisoned go on to commit more crime, and projects such as Brathay’s can reduce this. 

The cost of sending one one person to a young offenders institution for one year is £50,000 alone. 

And you cannot put a   price on the cost to local communities of gang crime, and to the lives of young people blighted by it.

The residential element of this project does not cost council taxpayers one 

penny thanks to the funding we have secured from both the Home Office and the Brathay charity itself.

The objectives of this project are laudable. 

By removing the troubled youngsters from their normal environment and the negative influences that surround them, the project teaches important life skills and provides role models for those who may not find them at home. 

The stay in Cumbria is only six days, out of a total of eight or nine months, forming only 2.4 per cent of the duration of the project, and is essential in helping to steer these gang members away crime to make the local community safer.

Cllr Daniel Astaire
Cabinet member for community safety