The Scottish Government's new framework for preventing youth offending will drop targets on persistent young offenders and instead focus on empowering and supporting young people.

The document, which marks a complete departure from the policies of Jack McConnell, the former first minister who made his "crackdown on neds" a key tenet of his time in office, will be launched in parliament today.

The policy extends from pre-birth to adulthood and will focus on early intervention, parenting skills and positive support rather than overtly punitive measures.

A draft of the framework, which was leaked to The Herald, has already been endorsed by the Crown Office, directors of social work and chief police officers.

In contrast to the youth policies of the previous executive which focused on penalising antisocial behaviour, this holistic approach is expected to be welcomed by charities and children's organisations.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said last night that they could not comment nor release any details of the framework in advance of it going before parliament.

The document pledges to abolish "the unruly certificate by which under-16s can be remanded to prison" and work to prevent children from going to prison altogether. It also calls for specific work on "inter-generational communication" and for the abolition of targets on young offenders.

Under the policy, local communities will be regularly updated on progress being made to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and agencies will be encouraged to challenge the current "misrepresentation of young people".

The framework states: "We want to build on the great qualities that young people bring to our society: energy, enthusiasm, creativity, an appetite for learning and huge potential for the future.

"At the same time, we must remove the barriers that prevent too many of our young people from realising their potential and leading successful, fulfilling lives.

"The cost for them and their communities of negative outcomes - including educational underachievement, economic disadvantage, social isolation, poor health, substance misuse and involvement in offending - is one that none of us can afford to pay.

"We know what we need to do. We need to prevent the causes of offending by giving every child the best start in life. We need to intervene early with children and families at risk to give them the support they need to thrive. We need to give young people more positive choices and chances, and build their capacity to capitalise on opportunity.

"For the small number of young people who pose a serious threat to themselves and their communities, we need to intervene quickly and effectively to turn their lives around."