The alarmingly high cost of controlling violent or threatening behaviour by teenagers emerged yesterday when the SNP revealed that antisocial behaviour orders (Asbo) for children under 16 were costing the public £500,000 each.

The extraordinary figure was disclosed by Fergus Ewing, the Community Safety Minister, as the SNP announced a new youth offending strategy, which will focus on early intervention and prevention.

Mr Ewing told MSPs that £7million had been spent on junior Asbos since their introduction in 2004 - yet only 14 had been issued. “It is perhaps no surprise that their appropriateness and effectiveness have been questioned,” he said. “The road to Polmont and Barlinnie [a youth offender institute and a prison] is paved with good policy intentions.”

Answering a question from Cathy Craigie, a Labour MSP who had challenged him on whether the success of Asbos should be measured in numbers, Mr Ewing said that the Scottish government had a duty to spend taxpayers' money wisely.

“I think we have to take into account the effectiveness of the expenditure of public money,” he said. “If £7million has been devoted to a group of measures called junior Asbos, which has resulted in 14 being issued, then by my arithmetic the cost is £500,000 per junior asbo.”

Referring to a recent report by Audit Scotland, which suggested the policy had made little difference to youth crime, Mr Ewing said that if the £7million had instead been spent on creating more opportunities and choices for the young, the outcomes “might be more successful”.

The previous Labour/Lib Dem Executive extended Asbos to children under the Antisocial Behaviour Scotland Act. The legislation was billed as a crackdown on “neds” and mirrored the “respect” agenda that Tony Blair promoted in England. But the scheme met with strong criticism. Police chiefs claimed that the Asbos would criminalise young people, while councils refused to use new powers to disperse gangs.

The Lib Dems criticised the scheme as an expensive white elephant and demanded a fresh approach. Mike Pringle, justice spokesman for the party, said yesterday: “The cost of baby Asbos, at £500,000, is astonishing. Liberal Democrats believe that this kind of money would be better spent on youth justice panels, which target young people before they go through the hearing system.”

Bill Aitken, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, called for a review of the 1968 laws that govern youth justice. “The 16-year-old of that era was quite different to the 16-year-old of today,” he said. “We really have to consider whether the children's hearing system is equipped to deal with that type of offender.”

Mr Ewing said that the initiative, Preventing Offending by Young People: A Framework for Action, was aimed at identifying and supporting children who were at risk of becoming criminals. It was developed with the help of councils, police chiefs, the children's reporter and the Crown Office and would provide, the party said, more recreational schemes for children, place more emphasis on the role of parents and improve residential accommodation for young offenders.

Assistant Chief Constable Derek Penman, spokesman for the Association for Chief Police Officers in Scotland, welcomed the initiative, saying that it would help forces to protect the public better.

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