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Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his definition is of a prolific priority offender. [190062]
Paul Goggins: The prolific and other priority offender (PPO) strategy has been designed to allow local areas to tackle those offenders who are causing the most harm to their communities and have been identified locally through police intelligence.
We have issued guidance on the criteria which should be used in selecting prolific and other priority offenders. This recommends that selection should be based upon the nature and volume of the crimes an individual is committing; the nature and volume of other harm they are causing (e.g. as a result of their gang leadership or
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antisocial behaviour); and other local criteria, based on the impact of the individuals concerned on their local communities.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much each police force spent on public relations and marketing consultants in the last year for which figures are available. [189306]
Ms Blears: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many racially motivated violent crimes have (a) been recorded and (b) resulted in successful prosecutions in each year since 1997, broken down by police force. [188065]
Ms Blears: Racially aggravated offences are now categorised with religiously aggravated offences. The two tables give available data for recorded offences, prosecutions and convictions.
Financial year | Racially aggravated common assault | Racially aggravated other wounding | Racially aggravated harassment |
---|---|---|---|
19992000 | 4,275 | 2,687 | 10,758 |
200001 | 4,711 | 3,176 | 12,468 |
200102(53) | 5,164 | 3,463 | 14,975 |
2002031,2 | 4,491 | 4,352 | 16,696 |
2003041,2 | 4,017 | 4,840 | 20,584 |
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recommendations were of the Sentencing Advisory Panel set out in spring 2003; and what his proposals are regarding implementation of each recommendation. [188707]
Paul Goggins: In February 2003, the Sentencing Advisory Panel issued advice to the Court of Appeal proposing a new sentencing guideline for the offence of causing death by dangerous driving. The advice is available on the Panel's website.
On 3 April 2003, the Court of Appeal issued sentencing guidelines based on the proposals from the Panel.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the sentencing guidelines will assist victims' representatives to understand the basis of sentences. [187241]
Paul Goggins:
Yes. The Sentencing Guidelines Council will, in due course, provide guidelines that indicate a sentence of a particular kind, or within a
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particular range for each criminal offence. Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court has a duty to state in open court, in ordinary language and in general terms, its reasons for deciding on the sentence passed. As part of this duty, where the court departs from guidelines relevant to the sentence it must state its reasons for doing so. The aim of these provisions is to enable the offender, victims and other interested parties better to understand why a particular sentence was imposed.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons are for the changes in the (a) frequency and (b) number of sentences of imprisonment over the past 10 years. [187242]
Paul Goggins:
The foremost reason for the increase in frequency and number of prison sentences is increased severity of sentencing. In 1993 the custody rate for persons sentenced at all courts in England and Wales was 4.2 per cent.; this had risen to 7.9 per cent. in 2002 (latest data available).
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The new Sentencing Guidelines Council established by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA) will in due course create and revise a comprehensive set of Guidelines for all offences, so as to promote consistent and just sentencing by the courts within the framework provided by Parliament. In every individual case, judges and magistrates will continue to make their own decision as to the appropriate sentence, but will be required to operate within the council's guidelines or explain why they have gone outside them in that particular case.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Sentencing Guidelines Council will have a role in analyzing recent trends in magistrates' sentences. [187244]
Paul Goggins: The Sentencing Guidelines Council will be analysing sentencing data from all courts in taking forward its work.
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