A report published this week by the spending watchdog warns that projects designed to steer young people away from trouble struggle with a wasteful and bureaucratic funding structure.
The report claims youth workers spend up to a third of their time managing budgets and chasing funding.
Projects on average have three funding sources, with different application systems and monitoring criteria. The cost of bidding for grants can exceed the amount of funding applicants hope to receive.
Even when funding is secured, it is often fixed and short-term with no guarantee of renewal, so successful projects often face closure.
The report states that it costs four times as much to put a young person through the criminal justice system than it does to keep them out. It claims more than £113m would be saved if one in 10 young offenders was kept out of further trouble.
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