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6 Oct 2003 : Column 1216W—continued

Correspondence

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the hon. Member for Bolton South-East to the letter on behalf of Befriending Refugees and Asylum Seekers of 28 February. [129893]

Beverley Hughes: My hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) wrote to my hon. Friend on 9 September 2003.

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the ARDG Central Allocation Team of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Totnes of 14 July regarding Mrs. John Lewis of Dartmouth, South Devon; and what the reasons are for the delay in replying. [130991]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 18 September 2003]: I wrote to the hon. Member on 29 September 2003.

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 27 May 2003 from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood regarding Singobile Lunga, H.O. Ref L1047295, a constituent. [131159]

Beverley Hughes: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 23 September 2003.

Crime Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated cost of crime, in money terms, in each of the last six years was. [130487]

Ms Blears: The Home Office made estimates of the economic and social cost of crime in England and Wales in 1999–2000. Estimates were published in Home Office Research Study 217 (HORS 217), "The economic and social costs of crime". This study estimated that, in England and Wales in 1999–2000, the cost of crimes against individuals was £32.2 billion, against businesses

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and public sector was £9.1 billion, of fraud and forgery was £13.8 billion, and of traffic and other non-notifiable offences was £4.8 billion. Figures for other years are not currently available.

Crime Statistics

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the differences are in the criteria by which an offence is considered to be (a) cleared up and (b) brought to justice. [109586]

Ms Blears: The term cleared up is used when an individual has been charged, cautioned, reprimanded, or received a final warning for a notifiable offence or offences in relation to a crime, or when such an offence has been accepted for consideration in court. A crime may also be counted as cleared up when no further action is taken on an offence for one of the following reasons:


A notifiable offence is considered to have been brought to justice if the outcome is a conviction, caution, Penalty Notice for Disorder, or it is taken into consideration at court.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many shoplifting offences were committed in Romford in (a) 2002 and (b) each of the last 10 years. [128375]

Paul Goggins: The available information is contained in the table:

Persons(57) aged 10–17 and 18–20 convicted in the Petty Sessional Area of Havering(58), 1992–2001

Persons aged 10–17Persons aged 18–20All young offenders
1992178505683
1993171609780
1994156480636
1995N/aN/aN/a
1996201518719
1997252481733
1998292409701
1999269473742
2000222466688
2001286481767

(57) A person convicted on more than one occasion during a year will be counted separately on each occasion.

(58) Court sits at Romford. Figures include those convicted at the Crown Court, having been committed for trial from Havering PSA.


Statistics for 2002 will be available in December.

Juvenile Offenders

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 8 July 2003, Official Report, column 724W, on juvenile prisoners, what plans he has to move all 17-year-old females out of Prison Service custody. [125889]

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Paul Goggins: We are determined to minimise the number of juvenile girls mixing with adult prisoners. We are currently setting up a new, separate juvenile unit at Downview, to end placements in Holloway. Given the numbers and geographical spread, complete separation across England and Wales is not simple, but we are looking at how further improvements can be made.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Metropolitan Police Force in the London borough of Havering with regard to young offenders. [128373]

Ms Blears: I have regular bilateral meetings with the Commissioner which cover the whole of the Metropolitan police area. The Youth Offending Team (YOT) in Havering was the first in London to be managed by a serving officer from the Metropolitan police and is one of the best performing YOTs in London, according to the tables of performance compiled by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.

It forms part of a consortium of YOTs which run the East London Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme for persistent young offenders. With support from the Children's Fund, Havering is also developing a Youth Inclusion and Support Programme which will aim to identify young people at risk of offending and provide a series of early intervention measures to address this risk.

Criminal Cases Review Commission

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the CCRC received in Grant Aid in the year ending 31 March 2003. [128886]

Paul Goggins: In the year ending 31 March 2003, the Commission received £7 million in Grant Aid.

Criminal Enterprises

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional steps he is taking to ensure that the target to disrupt 10 per cent. more organised criminal enterprises by 2004 is met. [130486]

Ms Blears: The target of disrupting 10 per cent. more organised criminal groups by 2004 set against a 2000–01 baseline was met in 2001–02. In 2002–03 there was a 3.4 per cent. increase in disruptions on 2001–02.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. [130510]

Paul Goggins: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has a complement of 554 posts. At the end of July 2003, 496.5 of these posts were filled by staff on secondment from the Authority's sponsoring organisations, the Home Office and the Scottish Executive. A further 37 posts were filled by agency and casual staff.

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Criminal Justice Boards (Targets)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the proposed timelines and targets set by each local Criminal Justice Board for the reduction of the time from arrest to sentence. [130483]

Paul Goggins: All Local Criminal Justice Boards are expected to continue to work towards meeting and maintaining the Government's objective to halve the average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders in England and Wales from 142 days (1996) to 71 days. The average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders in England and Wales was 64 days for the second quarter of 2003—the eighth consecutive quarter at or below the 71 day target. Current Persistent Young Offenders (PYO) performance for each Local Criminal Justice Board is set out in the table (Table A) and further details are available at www.youth-justice-board.gov. uk/PractitionersPostal/PracticeAnd Performance/Performance.

Locally, since April 2003 when the Boards were formally established, each Board has set itself individual adult and youth targets for improving general timeliness in the magistrates courts, with separate Crown court targets for different types of cases. These have been set in the context of the overall delivery of the Criminal Justice Systems (CJS's) Public Service Agreements and in the magistrates courts are expressed in terms of charge to completion. Targets for each area are set out in the table (Table B). Performance data from April-June 2003, is due to be published in October 2003.

Table A
April–June 2003

ForceASNumber of cases
National646,296
Avon and Somerset61108
Bedfordshire4427
Cambridgeshire4382
Cheshire5595
Cleveland5788
Cumbria5393
Derbyshire9190
Devon and Cornwall48120
Dorset7658
Durham60102
Dyfed-Powys3151
Essex7994
Gloucestershire4041
Greater Manchester67474
Gwent6478
Hampshire65314
Hertfordshire4958
Humberside89130
Kent67189
Lancashire52240
Leicestershire66106
Lincolnshire7978
Merseyside89257
Metropolitan75453
Norfolk7072
North Wales43110
North Yorkshire7679
Northamptonshire6871
Northumbria70384
Nottinghamshire59150
South Wales63259
South Yorkshire73164
Staffordshire46147
Suffolk4091
Surrey7448
Sussex55121
Thames Valley64147
Warwickshire4341
West Mercia59129
West Midlands51436
West Yorkshire65331
Wiltshire6836
British Transport Police7554

Note:

This table shows the latest available PYO arrest-to-sentence figures for each Criminal Justice Area.


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Table B

Magistrates courtCrown court
AdultYouth
TARGETS 2003/04PYOInitial Guilty PleaTrialsCommittalsInitial Guilty PleaTrialsCommittalsCommittal for trial (%)Sent for trial (%)Committal for sentence (%)Sent for appeal (%)
England and Wales71
Avon and Somerset7157142845412195(59)(59)(59)(59)
Bedfordshire713617586491218578787878
Cambridgeshire714914586491198578787878
Cheshire714612398411089878787878
Cleveland71501418649998580808080
Cumbria714211284429870(59)(59)(59)(59)
Derbyshire7154130102561409882859293
Devon and Cornwall714012876461219278787878
Dorset714818286461126878787878
Durham71371119024855578787878
Dyfed Powys71381267244788578787878
Essex715012786401067678787878
Gloucestershire715014085451108080859090
Greater Manchester714213684491218562728085
Gwent71(59)(59)(59)491218578787878
Hampshire713514869421158378787878
Hertfordshire714514586441216278787878
Humberside7150150854912085(59)(59)(59)(59)
Kent7140140804011580(59)(59)(59)(59)
Lancashire715014586491218570788085
Leicestershire714113084471086978787878
Lincolnshire714714586491215878787878
London714714565491217778787878
Merseyside715214080401108081839196
Norfolk71381106237987078787878
Northamptonshire715014586491216278787878
Northumbria7128112842811270(59)(59)(59)(59)
North Wales713610490451026790929093
North Yorkshire71421308642907278787878
Nottinghamshire714914469481148478787878
South Wales71501288442926078787878
South Yorkshire7154138985711710278787878
Staffordshire71501298644908578787878
Suffolk715014271491017878787878
Surrey714514086441004578787878
Sussex7150145864112182(59)(59)(59)(59)
Thames Valley7150145864610985(59)(59)(59)(59)
Warwickshire71501178546998578787878
West Mercia7142155125451188578787878
West Midlands714211270421127078787878
West Yorkshire714812884451168478787878
Wiltshire71471201084298078787878

(59) denotes no area target set

Notes:

Persistent Young Offenders—Targets are based on average time in days from arrest to sentence

Timeliness in Magistrates courts—Targets are based on 80 per cent. of defendants charged with crime to be dealt within the number of days shown from charge to disposal.

Timeliness in Crown courts—Targets are the percentage of defendants to be dealt with within National Targets from committal to first hearing

Crown Court National targets are: Committals for trial, 16 weeks; Sent for trial cases, 26 weeks; Committals for sentence, 10 weeks; Appeals, 14 weeks

These figures have been updated recently and may differ slightly from previously published figures

Awaiting clarification from Gwent on Adult timeliness targets


6 Oct 2003 : Column 1221W


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