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Sexual Offences

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long the maximum penalty is for those convicted of gross indecency. [128635]

Paul Goggins: The maximum sentence for the offence of Indecency between Men (section 13 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956) is, on indictment, dependent on the ages of those involved. If the offence is committed by a man over the age of 21 with a man under the age of 18, it carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. Otherwise it carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. On summary conviction the offence carries a penalty of six months imprisonment, or a fine, or both.

Indecency between men is the official name for the offence colloquially known as Gross Indecency.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government plans to (a) repeal gross indecency offences and (b) include provision regarding sexual activity in public toilets under the Sexual Offences Bill. [128633]

Paul Goggins: The Sexual Offences Bill provides for the repeal of section 13 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 which is the offence of "indecency between men not in private", colloquially known as "gross indecency" (see schedule 5 of the Bill). The Bill also provides for an offence of "sexual activity in a public lavatory" (see clause 67).

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislation the police may use to tackle the problem of sexual activity in toilets. [128634]

Paul Goggins: Currently, sexual activity in toilets could be dealt with under section 13 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 (indecency between men not in private), section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 which deals with behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress and the common law offence of "outraging public decency". There is provision in the Sexual Offences Bill for the repeal of section 13 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 but a new offence of "sexual activity in a public lavatory" is included at clause 67.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will adopt the proposal of the Home Affairs Committee to extend the statutory reporting restrictions, which preserve the anonymity of victims of sexual offences, to persons accused of those offences. [128620]

Paul Goggins: The Government have noted the findings of the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC), but believe there should be no distinction drawn between those accused of sex offences and other, arguably more heinous crimes, such as murder. However, we acknowledge that some media reporting of suspects' details, prior to charge, can be severely

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distressing and damaging where charges are not then brought, and believe that informed and strengthened self-regulatory guidance issued by the police and the media, to prevent such reporting, is preferable to legislation. Discussions are already in hand to ensure the relevant guidance is strengthened.

Young Offenders

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on performance against the 71 day target for dealing with persistent young offenders. [128717]

Paul Goggins: The average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders (PYOs) in England and Wales was 64 days for the second quarter of 2002—the eighth consecutive quarter at or below the 71 day target.

This is an excellent achievement by all the Criminal Justice Agencies. It is a vital part of the Government's reforms that people should have confidence in the Criminal Justice System, and the Government are very pleased that the target is being met so.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the funding given to the initiatives in the London Borough of Havering to discourage young offenders from re-offending. [128381]

Paul Goggins: The Havering Youth Offending Team (YOT) budget for 2003–04 which has been proposed to the Borough Council is £792,315. This covers a wide range of work with juvenile offenders including community supervision and interventions designed to prevent re-offending. The local Probation Service carries out similar work with some juveniles and with young adult offenders.

Child Abuse

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines govern the conduct of police investigations and subsequent prosecution proceedings in care home abuse cases. [128391]

Paul Goggins: The Government's publication "Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter-Agency Issues" and the Association of Chief Police Officers' Senior Investigating Officers Handbook both cover the conduct of police investigations into complex historical abuse cases. This is in addition to more general guidelines in the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and accompanying code and the Crown Prosecution Service code for Crown prosecutors.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will take steps to encourage early consultation on the conduct and direction of investigations between the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service in cases of abuse in children's homes. [128393]

Paul Goggins: These steps have already been taken. The Government issued inter-agency guidance on complex child abuse investigations in June 2002. The guidance stresses the need to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service are involved at an early stage as

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appropriate, while noting that they should not be involved in operational decisions about the conduct of an investigation.

This approach is further supported by the guidance in the Association of Chief Police Officers' Senior Investigating Officers Handbook.

Criminal Records Bureau

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the Criminal Records Bureau's end of year deficit on the financial forecast set out in Annex A of the CRB Corporate Business Plan; how this compares to the original financial forecast; and when he expects the agency to break even. [131201]

Paul Goggins: It is currently estimated that the Criminal Records Bureau deficit for the year to 31 March 2004 will be £18.8 million. The original plan, which assumed a significantly higher volume of applications, was for the Criminal Records Bureau to make a surplus of £1.8 million in the year. The Criminal Records Bureau is currently projected to break even in the year to 31 March 2006.

Evidence Collection

Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has taken to ensure that evidence presented in UK courts has not been obtained under duress. [131287]

Paul Goggins: It is for the trial judge to decide whether a particular piece of evidence should be admitted and in making that decision he must adhere to the requirements of the law. In England and Wales, criminal courts have a range of powers to prevent the admission of improperly obtained evidence. In particular:

Section 76(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) prevents the prosecution relying on confession evidence where it may have been obtained by oppression of the person who made it or in consequence of anything said or done which, in the circumstances, was likely to render a resulting confession unreliable. Where the defence contends that this may be the case it is up to the prosecution to show beyond reasonable doubt that this is not the case. Section 76(3) also permits the court to require the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the confession was not so obtained.

The Criminal Justice Bill provides for similar statutory protection where the confession is sought to be adduced by a co-defendant.

Judges also have discretion under section 78 of PACE to exclude evidence on which the prosecution propose to rely if it appears to the court that the admission of the evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that the court ought not to admit it. When considering this discretion the court is to have regard for all the circumstances of the case, including the circumstances in which the evidence was obtained.

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National Probation Directorate

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the outcome of the research into the completion and re-offending rates arising from the Think First pilots commissioned by the National Probation Directorate, will be published. [131166]

Paul Goggins: The findings will be made public as soon as practicable after the research has been received and approved by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

Parenting Orders

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect of the use to date of parenting orders. [130503]

Paul Goggins: The Policy Research Bureau's evaluation of the parenting programme sponsored by the Youth Justice Board was published in September 2002. It found a very positive response from parents on Parenting Orders as well as voluntary participants, and improved parenting skills. In the year following counselling and guidance, offences by their children fell by 50 per cent.

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