Special campuses for problem youngsters will only be used as a last resort when other efforts to keep them on the straight and narrow have failed, justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin and minister for youth André Rouvoet told MPs on Friday.

Experiments with the campuses are set to begin in 2009, with a nationwide scheme up and running in 2011, the ministers said. The campus plan was first outlined in June, when the government unveiled its 74-priorities plan of action.
The aim of the camps is to get teenagers and young men up to the age of 27 used to an ordinary working rhythm and keep them out of trouble. One of the campuses will be a 24-hour institution, the ministers said.
It is not clear how much money the cabinet intends to invest in the project. More financial details will be revealed in the budget. MPs are due to debate the campus plan with ministers next week.
The cabinet has already announced that the school leaving age for people without a basic diploma is to be raised to 18 and has put a stop on welfare benefits for the under-27s.