Young offenders will improve their reading, writing and numeracy to help them get jobs after they leave custody.

The scheme, spearheaded by the Bradford and District Youth Offending Team and the Learning and Skills Council for West Yorkshire, aims to get young offenders into training.

Youth Offending Teams in Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield have linked with Wetherby Young Offenders Institution to make sure the skills taught in custody are built on once youngsters are released.

When they leave Wetherby, each person will be referred to a Youth Offending Team. The project, funded by the Learning and Skills Council's European Social Fund, will be run with organisations such as Bradford's Cathedral Centre.

Margaret Cobb, basic skills manager for the Learning and Skills Council, said: "Offenders and those who are at risk of offending remain one of our priority groups. They currently feel excluded from the learning process and it is our job to make sure they are re-engaged back into learning."

Speaking at the launch of the scheme, she said it aimed to remove some of the barriers to learning.

Paul O'Hara, Bradford Youth Offending Team manager, said: "Employment is the biggest single factor in re-offending. We need to get offenders back into work but there is a massive gap in the provision of services." Mr O'Hara said the project would be aimed at 16 to 18-year-olds. A study of people in custody found that 20 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds had a reading age of seven or less.

"Up until this project started, there was no real linkage between what was happening in Wetherby and what was done when they came out. I see this project as being an opportunity to redress that," Mr O'Hara said.

Sandy Young, head of learning and skills at Wetherby Young Offender's Institution said they were very enthusiastic to support the project.

"I think this is the way we need to go and we need to do it a lot more," he said.