Scotland's army of persistent young offenders has swelled to another record high.

Figures released yesterday showed a 6% rise in the number of children classed among the country's most troubled and troublesome.

In yet another blow for the Scottish Executive's "war on Neds", the latest tally of persistent young offenders was chalked up as 1177 in the last nine months of 2006.

That is 72 more than in the corresponding period of the year before. Fourteen councils, including Dundee and Stirling, reported figures down. They were, however, far outweighed by 17 authorities, including Scotland's four biggest - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife and North Lanarkshire - where the seemingly relentless rise in the figures continued unchecked.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson responded by announcing a nationwide inspection of the way council youth justice services handle the most persistent and serious offenders aged between 14 and 18.

That comes on top of an "improvement team" of experts set up last year to help tackle the issue - and focus on areas where figures have been climbing most.

Ms Jamieson fired a coded warning shot across the bows of some of the bigger councils while singling out others for praise.

"I want to pay tribute to those areas like Dundee and Stirling who are demonstrating that significant improvements in this difficult area can be made," she said. "Despite signs of improvement, particularly since October, progress in many areas needs to be accelerated and sustained.

"There are still too many young people whose behaviour is not being sufficiently challenged, nor ultimately changed.

"The improvement team is providing support and advice to ensure agencies are collectively addressing and improving all indicators on youth crime, concentrating initially on those areas like Glasgow, Edinburgh and North Lanarkshire, with most still to do.

"But this team is here to support local agencies - not to do it for them. That requires leadership and commitment from local authorities and their partners in the police and Scottish Children's Reporter Administration.

"In every part of Scotland I expect - and more importantly our hard-pressed communities expect - to see agencies using the measures and resources now available to them."

Ms Jamieson had aimed to cut the number of persistent young offenders by 10% by the end of March last year. As revealed by The Herald, the figure actually rose by 10%. Another target - a 10% reduction by March 2008, still stands.

Tory leader Annabel Goldie, however, said that aim was now "dead in the water".