A radical report on Scotland's youth justice system is advocating alternatives to custodial sentences.

Authors of the publication, including representatives from local councils, charities, children's panels and academics, have called for an end to the system of punishment without looking at the causes.

Scotland has one of Europe's highest rates of imprisoning young people and it costs some �500 per week per youth.

The report released on Thursday says that far too often the reasons why youngsters offend in the first place are not being addressed.

Those who support change want money currently tied up in the prison system released to fund prevention schemes and projects which deal better with offending when it happens.

New initiatives

The Scottish Executive has been handed the report as part of its review of youth crime.

At the end of last year, the country�s Deputy Minister for Children and Education Peter Peacock commissioned the research and promised new initiatives which would cut crime and drug use among young people.

His pledge came in light of a Stirling University survey which revealed that nearly 90% of Scotland's secondary school pupils commit some sort of crime by the time they reach 16.

At the time the NCH Action for Children called for short-term sentences for young people to be scrapped.

It says there is evidence that non-custodial sentences are more effective in cutting re-offending rates.