ST HELENS North MP Dave Watts has responded to shocking figures from the Ministry of Justice thatwhich have found the borough to have one of the highest re-offending rates in the country among young people.

The figures issued by the Ministry of Justice show nearly a quarter of young lawbreakers in St Helens went on to get themselves in trouble again within three months. Twenty-three per cent re-offended within the period, which is the fourth highest figure in the country. And Mr Watts says he is keen to establish the full story behind the figures to determine if the borough has an “ongoing problem”. “I am going to write to find out why this is the case,” the MP told the Star.

“I don’t know whether these are a one-off but on the face of it they look disappointing.”

The area’s rate is higher than any other borough in Merseyside, with neighbouring Knowsley having just 12.8 per cent re-offending, just more than half the St Helens number. Meanwhile, in Wirral the rate was 21.0 per cent, Sefton had a figure of 19.1 per cent and in Liverpool the number was 18.6 per cent.

Watts added: “My main concern is whether there are lessons to be learned and that’s the question I’m going to raise.” The statistics cover the financial year of 2013 to 2014 and measure the percentage that are proven to have committed a further offence up to three months after being discharged from custody or starting a court order.