House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 6 Oct 2003 (pt 58)

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

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1217W

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:

the offender, victim or an essential witness is dead or too ill;

the victim refuses or is unable to give evidence;

the offender is under the age of criminal responsibility;

the Police or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decide that no useful purpose would be served by proceeding; or

the time limit of six months for commencing prosecution, where applicable, has been exceeded.

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 10–17 Persons aged 18–20 All young offenders

1992 178 505 683

1993 171 609 780

1994 156 480 636

1995 N/a N/a N/a

1996 201 518 719

1997 252 481 733

1998 292 409 701

1999 269 473 742

2000 222 466 688

2001 286 481 767

	Persons aged 10–17	Persons aged 18–20	All young offenders
1992	178	505	683
1993	171	609	780
1994	156	480	636
1995	N/a	N/a	N/a
1996	201	518	719
1997	252	481	733
1998	292	409	701
1999	269	473	742
2000	222	466	688
2001	286	481	767

⁽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]

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1218W

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.

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1219W

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 AApril–June 2003

Force AS Number of cases

National 64 6,296

Avon and Somerset 61 108

Bedfordshire 44 27

Cambridgeshire 43 82

Cheshire 55 95

Cleveland 57 88

Cumbria 53 93

Derbyshire 91 90

Devon and Cornwall 48 120

Dorset 76 58

Durham 60 102

Dyfed-Powys 31 51

Essex 79 94

Gloucestershire 40 41

Greater Manchester 67 474

Gwent 64 78

Hampshire 65 314

Hertfordshire 49 58

Humberside 89 130

Kent 67 189

Lancashire 52 240

Leicestershire 66 106

Lincolnshire 79 78

Merseyside 89 257

Metropolitan 75 453

Norfolk 70 72

North Wales 43 110

North Yorkshire 76 79

Northamptonshire 68 71

Northumbria 70 384

Nottinghamshire 59 150

South Wales 63 259

South Yorkshire 73 164

Staffordshire 46 147

Suffolk 40 91

Surrey 74 48

Sussex 55 121

Thames Valley 64 147

Warwickshire 43 41

West Mercia 59 129

West Midlands 51 436

West Yorkshire 65 331

Wiltshire 68 36

British Transport Police 75 54

Force	AS	Number of cases
National	64	6,296
Avon and Somerset	61	108
Bedfordshire	44	27
Cambridgeshire	43	82
Cheshire	55	95
Cleveland	57	88
Cumbria	53	93
Derbyshire	91	90
Devon and Cornwall	48	120
Dorset	76	58
Durham	60	102
Dyfed-Powys	31	51
Essex	79	94
Gloucestershire	40	41
Greater Manchester	67	474
Gwent	64	78
Hampshire	65	314
Hertfordshire	49	58
Humberside	89	130
Kent	67	189
Lancashire	52	240
Leicestershire	66	106
Lincolnshire	79	78
Merseyside	89	257
Metropolitan	75	453
Norfolk	70	72
North Wales	43	110
North Yorkshire	76	79
Northamptonshire	68	71
Northumbria	70	384
Nottinghamshire	59	150
South Wales	63	259
South Yorkshire	73	164
Staffordshire	46	147
Suffolk	40	91
Surrey	74	48
Sussex	55	121
Thames Valley	64	147
Warwickshire	43	41
West Mercia	59	129
West Midlands	51	436
West Yorkshire	65	331
Wiltshire	68	36
British Transport Police	75	54

Note:

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

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1220W

Table B

Magistrates court Crown court

Adult Youth

TARGETS 2003/04 PYO Initial Guilty Plea Trials Committals Initial Guilty Plea Trials Committals Committal for trial (%) Sent for trial (%) Committal for sentence (%) Sent for appeal (%)

England and Wales 71

Avon and Somerset 71 57 142 84 54 121 95 ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾—

Bedfordshire 71 36 175 86 49 121 85 78 78 78 78

Cambridgeshire 71 49 145 86 49 119 85 78 78 78 78

Cheshire 71 46 123 98 41 108 98 78 78 78 78

Cleveland 71 50 141 86 49 99 85 80 80 80 80

Cumbria 71 42 112 84 42 98 70 ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾—

Derbyshire 71 54 130 102 56 140 98 82 85 92 93

Devon and Cornwall 71 40 128 76 46 121 92 78 78 78 78

Dorset 71 48 182 86 46 112 68 78 78 78 78

Durham 71 37 111 90 24 85 55 78 78 78 78

Dyfed Powys 71 38 126 72 44 78 85 78 78 78 78

Essex 71 50 127 86 40 106 76 78 78 78 78

Gloucestershire 71 50 140 85 45 110 80 80 85 90 90

Greater Manchester 71 42 136 84 49 121 85 62 72 80 85

Gwent 71 ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— 49 121 85 78 78 78 78

Hampshire 71 35 148 69 42 115 83 78 78 78 78

Hertfordshire 71 45 145 86 44 121 62 78 78 78 78

Humberside 71 50 150 85 49 120 85 ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾—

Kent 71 40 140 80 40 115 80 ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾—

Lancashire 71 50 145 86 49 121 85 70 78 80 85

Leicestershire 71 41 130 84 47 108 69 78 78 78 78

Lincolnshire 71 47 145 86 49 121 58 78 78 78 78

London 71 47 145 65 49 121 77 78 78 78 78

Merseyside 71 52 140 80 40 110 80 81 83 91 96

Norfolk 71 38 110 62 37 98 70 78 78 78 78

Northamptonshire 71 50 145 86 49 121 62 78 78 78 78

Northumbria 71 28 112 84 28 112 70 ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾—

North Wales 71 36 104 90 45 102 67 90 92 90 93

North Yorkshire 71 42 130 86 42 90 72 78 78 78 78

Nottinghamshire 71 49 144 69 48 114 84 78 78 78 78

South Wales 71 50 128 84 42 92 60 78 78 78 78

South Yorkshire 71 54 138 98 57 117 102 78 78 78 78

Staffordshire 71 50 129 86 44 90 85 78 78 78 78

Suffolk 71 50 142 71 49 101 78 78 78 78 78

Surrey 71 45 140 86 44 100 45 78 78 78 78

Sussex 71 50 145 86 41 121 82 ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾—

Thames Valley 71 50 145 86 46 109 85 ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾— ⁽⁵⁹⁾—

Warwickshire 71 50 117 85 46 99 85 78 78 78 78

West Mercia 71 42 155 125 45 118 85 78 78 78 78

West Midlands 71 42 112 70 42 112 70 78 78 78 78

West Yorkshire 71 48 128 84 45 116 84 78 78 78 78

Wiltshire 71 47 120 108 42 98 0 78 78 78 78

		Magistrates court	Crown court
		Adult	Youth
TARGETS 2003/04	PYO	Initial Guilty Plea	Trials	Committals	Initial Guilty Plea	Trials	Committals	Committal for trial (%)	Sent for trial (%)	Committal for sentence (%)	Sent for appeal (%)
England and Wales	71
Avon and Somerset	71	57	142	84	54	121	95	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—
Bedfordshire	71	36	175	86	49	121	85	78	78	78	78
Cambridgeshire	71	49	145	86	49	119	85	78	78	78	78
Cheshire	71	46	123	98	41	108	98	78	78	78	78
Cleveland	71	50	141	86	49	99	85	80	80	80	80
Cumbria	71	42	112	84	42	98	70	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—
Derbyshire	71	54	130	102	56	140	98	82	85	92	93
Devon and Cornwall	71	40	128	76	46	121	92	78	78	78	78
Dorset	71	48	182	86	46	112	68	78	78	78	78
Durham	71	37	111	90	24	85	55	78	78	78	78
Dyfed Powys	71	38	126	72	44	78	85	78	78	78	78
Essex	71	50	127	86	40	106	76	78	78	78	78
Gloucestershire	71	50	140	85	45	110	80	80	85	90	90
Greater Manchester	71	42	136	84	49	121	85	62	72	80	85
Gwent	71	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	49	121	85	78	78	78	78
Hampshire	71	35	148	69	42	115	83	78	78	78	78
Hertfordshire	71	45	145	86	44	121	62	78	78	78	78
Humberside	71	50	150	85	49	120	85	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—
Kent	71	40	140	80	40	115	80	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—
Lancashire	71	50	145	86	49	121	85	70	78	80	85
Leicestershire	71	41	130	84	47	108	69	78	78	78	78
Lincolnshire	71	47	145	86	49	121	58	78	78	78	78
London	71	47	145	65	49	121	77	78	78	78	78
Merseyside	71	52	140	80	40	110	80	81	83	91	96
Norfolk	71	38	110	62	37	98	70	78	78	78	78
Northamptonshire	71	50	145	86	49	121	62	78	78	78	78
Northumbria	71	28	112	84	28	112	70	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—
North Wales	71	36	104	90	45	102	67	90	92	90	93
North Yorkshire	71	42	130	86	42	90	72	78	78	78	78
Nottinghamshire	71	49	144	69	48	114	84	78	78	78	78
South Wales	71	50	128	84	42	92	60	78	78	78	78
South Yorkshire	71	54	138	98	57	117	102	78	78	78	78
Staffordshire	71	50	129	86	44	90	85	78	78	78	78
Suffolk	71	50	142	71	49	101	78	78	78	78	78
Surrey	71	45	140	86	44	100	45	78	78	78	78
Sussex	71	50	145	86	41	121	82	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—
Thames Valley	71	50	145	86	46	109	85	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—	⁽⁵⁹⁾—
Warwickshire	71	50	117	85	46	99	85	78	78	78	78
West Mercia	71	42	155	125	45	118	85	78	78	78	78
West Midlands	71	42	112	70	42	112	70	78	78	78	78
West Yorkshire	71	48	128	84	45	116	84	78	78	78	78
Wiltshire	71	47	120	108	42	98	0	78	78	78	78

⁽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

Next Section

Index

Home Page