Howard plans to tag parents of errant children

The most extreme cases of bad parenting would be criminalised under the latest initiative against youth crime from Michael Howard, the Home Secretary.

Those who failed in their parental responsibilities and spurned offers of support would be at risk of a parental control order, punishable if breached by an electronic tagging order, a pounds 1,000 fine, a probation order or removal of their driving licence, Mr Howard said in a Green Paper.

New inter-agency groups would identify children at risk of offending, referring them and their parents, if appropriate, to a suitable local scheme to reduce the risk of offending.

The aim is to target children of 16 or under, including those under 10 who cannot be brought before the criminal courts, whose behaviour is likely to lead to offending as well as those who have already notched up convictions. Parents would be at risk of an order where the behaviour was judged to have resulted from their own lack of care and control.

But the paper, "Preventing Children Offending", found a lukewarm reception from penal experts, who welcomed early intervention but warned that the punitive elements would do little to reduce delinquency.

Courts already possess a panoply of criminal and civil powers to deal with errant children. Mary Honeyball, general secretary of the Association of Chief Officers of Probation said: "Magistrates already have the power to fine parents of young offenders. This power is rarely used because sentencers know it does not work."

Mr Howard insisted, however, that there was a fine distinction between his proposed new order and what had gone before. "The order itself is not a criminal offence. It is a way of encouraging parents to face up to their responsibilities."

However, the criminal law would come into play where parents "unreasonably" refused to comply with an order, failed to comply with conditions attached to it - for example ensuring that their child was at home at certain hours, or putting right damage - or failed in proper care and control over the child. The penalty of a curfew order, monitored by electronic tagging, might require the parents to "stay at home in the evening where they could keep an eye on their children", the paper says.

Ms Honeyball said: "Fines and curfews will only increase the feeling of inadequacy. Those parents who will not or cannot take responsibility for their children are unlikely to respond to punitive measures which may increase domestic tension and result in the child being taken into care."

Paul Cavadino, chairman of the Penal Affairs Consortium, said: "The Green Paper is a peculiar mixture of constructive ideas ... and punitive parent- bashing measures which will do nothing to cut youth crime. The response will often be excessive physical punishment of the child, which in turn increases the risk of aggression and further offending."