BURY is to share in a £4.52 million funding package to tackle persistent young offenders.

Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) across Greater Manchester have won the cash from the Youth Justice System.

The money will be used to work with the three per cent of young offenders who are thought to commit a quarter of all juvenile crimes.

In Bury, there are around six youngsters who come into this category. Bury is embraced by three schemes in Greater Manchester which will launch Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes (ISSPs) from July.

They will:

Check the whereabouts of the young persons 24 hours a day, seven days a week through electronic monitoring to see they are keeping out of trouble.

Put together an intensive package of work with the young person to see that they are getting proper accommodation, education/training and health support. Tackle the young person's offending behaviour head on.

Ensure reparation to victims of the young person's crimes.

The successful funding bid is the latest achievement for Greater Manchester as a national "Pathway" site, awarded by the Home Secretary three years ago.

This status means that Greater Manchester is recognised as an area committed to sharing vision, ideas and innovation.

In Bury, Graham Smyth is team manager of the borough's 15-strong Youth Offending Team which was established almost a year ago.

Commenting on the new ISSPs, he said: "As far as Bury is concerned, we have around half a dozen young offenders who will come under this programme."

He said the measures would include electronic tagging as well as a separate telephone voice verification electronic surveillance which has already been operating locally.

"It's really tagging by phone," explained Mr Smyth. "We get a voice pattern on a computer and we can check someone is where they are supposed to be if they are required to phone in."

Apart from dealing with persistent offenders, the Bury team's approach is to prevent children and young people from committing crimes.

They also work with "green" criminals who already have their foot on the first rung of the crime ladder.

In the last quarter of 2000, Bury YOT worked with around 120 young people.

The bulk of its referrals are from the police and courts with the remainder coming from other agencies.