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Juvenile Offenders

Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles (a) received a police caution and (b) have been prosecuted for a criminal offence by region for each year since 1979. [2499]

Mr. Maclean: Information for 1979, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1993 and 1994 is given in the tables. The provision of data for other years would involve disproportionate costs.

29 Nov 1995 : Column: 771

Table A: Number of persons aged 10 to under 18 years cautioned by type of offence(27) and region, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1993 and 1994

Region	Offence	1979(28)	1984	1989	1992	1993	1994
North	Indictable	--	8,256	6,845	7,856	7,476	7,993
	Summary non motoring	--	1,466	2,744	2,691	2,670	2,992
	Total	--	9,722	9,589	10,547	10,146	10,985
North West	Indictable	--	15,237	11,516	15,802	12,915	13,159
	Summary non motoring	--	3,328	4,257	5,281	4,774	4,859
	Total	--	18,565	15,773	21,083	17,689	18,018
Yorkshire and Humberside	Indictable	--	11,365	11,538	12,893	10,054	10,512
	Summary non motoring	--	3,171	4,288	3,304	2,992	3,282
	Total	--	14,536	15,826	16,197	13,046	13,794
East Midlands	Indictable	--	8,758	7,026	8,409	7,731	7,814
	Summary non motoring	--	2,241	2,672	2,000	2,224	2,143
	Total	--	10,999	9,698	10,409	9,955	9,957
West Midlands	Indictable	--	12,874	10,928	11,968	10,900	11,470
	Summary non motoring	--	2,259	2,647	2,993	2,992	3,011
	Total	--	15,133	13,575	14,961	13,892	14,481
East Anglia	Indictable	--	3,837	2,985	4,550	3,605	3,956
	Summary non motoring	--	991	1,016	1,072	913	985
	Total	--	4,828	4,001	5,622	4,518	4,941
South East	Indictable	--	28,571	19,646	32,001	28,784	28,563
	Summary non motoring	--	6,320	7,516	7,845	7,970	8,618
	Total	--	34,891	27,162	39,846	36,754	37,181
South West	Indictable	--	7,830	4,937	6,369	6,865	7,201
	Summary non motoring	--	1,980	1,397	1,305	1,379	1,602
	Total	--	9,810	6,334	7,674	8,244	8,803
Wales	Indictable	--	5,280	4,940	5,775	5,733	4,819
	Summary non motoring	--	1,795	1,899	1,578	1,605	1,675
	Total	--	7,075	6,839	7,353	7,338	6,494
England and Wales	Indictable	--	102,008	80,361	105,623	94,063	95,487
	Summary non motoring	--	23,551	28,436	28,069	27,519	29,167
	Total		125,559	108,797	133,692	121,582	124,654

(27) A number of indictable offences were reclassified as summary on October 1988 following the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

(28) Not available.

29 Nov 1995 : Column: 773

Table B: Number of persons aged 10 to under 18 years prosecuted at magistrates' courts by type of offence(29) and region, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1993 and 1994

Region	Offence	1979	1984	1989	1992	1993	1994
North	Indictable	9,615	9,694	5,454	6,131	6,208	6,919
	Summary non motoring	3,782	2,999	3,249	2,578	2,500	2,730
	Total	13,397	12,693	8,703	8,709	8,708	9,649
North West	Indictable	23,105	20,803	11,260	10,170	8,620	10,340
	Summary non motoring	8,337	6,031	5,622	4,058	3,182	3,620
	Total	31,442	26,834	16,882	14,228	11,802	13,960
Yorkshire and Humberside	Indictable	15,715	15,508	8,026	8,311	8,156	8,152
	Summary non motoring	7,107	4,639	3,755	2,843	1,992	2,176
	Total	22,822	20,147	11,781	11,154	10,148	10,328
East Midlands	Indictable	8,750	8,448	5,438	5,826	5,288	6,018
	Summary non motoring	2,893	2,448	2,433	1,982	1,608	1,939
	Total	11,643	10,896	7,871	7,808	6,896	7,957
West Midlands	Indictable	11,253	13,030	7,649	7,856	7,347	8,262
	Summary non motoring	3,933	3,771	3,403	2,486	2,195	2,272
	Total	15,186	16,801	11,052	10,342	9,542	10,534
East Anglia	Indictable	3,219	3,595	1,814	1,547	1,577	1,681
	Summary non motoring	1,669	1,123	774	473	379	525
	Total	4,888	4,718	2,588	2,020	1,956	2,206
South East	Indictable	35,864	32,596	17,635	(30)14,247	(30)14,717	17,620
	Summary non motoring	10,962	8,963	8,233	(30)5,174	(30)4,512	5,763
	Total	46,826	41,559	25,868	(30)19,421	(30)19,229	23,383
South West	Indictable	7,182	7,463	4,150	3,521	3,315	4,169
	Summary non motoring	2,344	2,409	2,170	1,266	1,113	1,287
	Total	9,526	9,872	6,320	4,787	4,428	5,456
Wales	Indictable	7,933	7,672	4,667	4,551	4,564	(31)5,324
	Summary non motoring	3,137	2,405	2,574	1,979	1,475	(31)1,845
	Total	11,070	10,077	7,241	6,530	6,039	(31)7,169
England and Wales	Indictable	122,636	118,809	66,093	(30)62,160	(30)59,792	(31)68,485
	Summary non motoring	44,164	34,788	32,213	(30)22,839	(30)18,956	(31)22,157
	Total	166,800	153,597	98,306	(30)84,999	(30)78,748	(31)90,642

(29) A number of indictable offences were reclassified as summary on October 1988 following the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

(30) Improvements in the data collection methods used by the Metropolitan Police have lead to increases in the numbers proceeded against in

1992 and 1993.

(31) Missing data for South Wales lead to a small decrease in the number of summary offences recorded.

29 Nov 1995 : Column: 775

29 Nov 1995 : Column: 775

Community Policing

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on community policing in rural areas. [2649]

Mr. Maclean: Police operations in rural areas are a matter for individual chief officers of police. The Government encourage a partnership approach to policing, and we are aware of a number of successful local initiatives in rural areas, including the farm watch and horse watch schemes, which involve a close partnership between the police and rural communities. In addition, the Government have introduced the parish constable scheme which is being taken up in many rural areas.

29 Nov 1995 : Column: 776

Prisoners

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) sentenced and (b) remand prisoners were held at Doncaster prison on the 17th day of each of the last 12 months. [2397]

Miss Widdercombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary director general of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 29 November 1995:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about how many (a) sentenced and (b) remand prisoners were held at Doncaster prison on the 17th day of each of the last twelve months.

The information requested is given in the table.

29 Nov 1995 : Column: 777

Number of sentenced and remand prisoners held at Her Majesty's Prison Doncaster during the last 12 months

	Sentenced	Remand
17 December 1994	345	383
17 January 1995	386	388
17 February 1995	375	381
17 March 1995	363	394
17 April 1995	360	365
17 May 1995	416	340
17 June 1995	404	326
17 July 1995	417	332
17 August 1995	416	361
17 September 1995	386	362
17 October 1995	414	361
17 November 1995	444	333

Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of (a) the number of prison places that will be available by 1 January 1996 and (b) the number of convicted and remand prisoners being held by that date. [1681]

Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary director general of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Janet Anderson, dated 29 November 1995:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the number of prison places that will be available by 1 January 1996 and the estimated number of convicted and remand prisoners being held by that date.
The Certified Normal Accommodation available for use in prisons in England and Wales on 23 November 1995 was 51,328. Approximately 140 additional places are expected to be available, following modernisation and refurbishment, by 1 January 1996.
The latest short-term projection (produced in October) indicates that the prison population at the end of December 1995 will be around 50,000, due to the seasonal downturn at the end of the year. Remand prisoners are assumed to be just over 10,000, sentenced prisoners around 39,000 and non-criminal prisoners around 600.

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