Young offenders take something out of society through their offending.
Rundown and demoralised public services reduce people's quality of life, even though they may be getting richer. Mr Blair's speech was made to a conference of community activists organised in Croydon by Groundwork, a network of trusts launched in Liverpool after the 1981 riots to bring local authorities together with business and local people to regenerate neighbourhoods. In the potentially most significant part of yesterday's initiative, the prime minister said that Labour, if re-elected, would legislate to create business improvement districts on the American model, which encourages local authorities to draw up contracts with local business to provide additional services and improvements in return for an extra business rate. It would help to reverse the downward spiral that often occurs when a district slides downhill and then sees business abandon it, taking jobs, services and hope away just when it is most needed he told his audience. There has to be intervention, but it has to be done through local empowerment and partnership.