Parents could be made legally responsible for ensuring their children complete sentences handed down for youth offending, under government plans published today to tackle criminal behaviour by youngsters.

Adults could also be issued with a summons to make them attend court with their children as part of the drive by ministers to make parents take responsibility for their child's behaviour.

The Government is also to hold talks with judges and magistrates to see if they can use their discretion to "name and shame" greater numbers of 16 and 17 year olds found guilty in the courts.

In addition, a pilot scheme will be launched to ensure high-risk young offenders are brought back to court regularly, throughout their sentences, to allow magistrates to monitor their progress.

In a further measure, members of youth offending teams will be placed in police stations to work with officers when a young person is arrested, while police patrols will be increased outside schools, at bus stations and train stations when the school day ends, ministers promised.

"Youth crime can have a devastating effect on victims and communities and must be tackled head-on," Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said.

"Today, I want to send the message to perpetrators that their actions are unacceptable. They must understand the consequences their behaviour has, not only on victims and communities, but on their families and their futures.

"Increasingly, we are able to identify these young people early and intervene to address the root causes of their behaviour, including supporting and challenging their parents in meeting their responsibilities.

“But I want to call on parents to play their part. Tough enforcement and policing is only one part of the solution. The new action we are launching today gives equal weight to the triple-track approach of intensive prevention, tough enforcement and support for parents."

Today's Youth Crime Action Plan outlines a triple-track approach involving enforcement and punishment, support and help on a non-negotiable basis, and earlier prevention particularly targeted at those young people most at risk of drifting into offending.

Underlying the strategy is an attempt to reduce the current 3,000 young people aged 10 to 17 held in custody by offering other sentences in the community, intensive fostering and family intervention projects. The £100m "extra funding" promised by the plan is over two and a half years.

The long-awaited action plan is to consult on requiring parents to take more responsibility for their children, including giving parents a legal responsibility for their child completing a sentence which would be similar to the existing duty on parents to ensure a child goes to school.

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