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11 Oct 2004 : Column 177W—continued

Prolific Priority Offender

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.

Public Relations/Marketing

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.

Racially Motivated Crime

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.
Table 1—Number of racially aggravated recorded crimes in England and Wales, 1999–2000 to 2003–04

Financial yearRacially aggravated common assaultRacially aggravated other woundingRacially aggravated harassment
1999–20004,2752,68710,758
2000–014,7113,17612,468
2001–02(53)5,1643,46314,975
2002–031,24,4914,35216,696
2003–041,24,0174,84020,584


(53) The introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard on 1 April 2002 may have impacted on the figures. There may be some effect in 2001–02 from forces adopting the principles of the NCRS early.
(54) The figures include religiously aggravated offences from 2002–03.


Table 2—Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for racially aggravated offences

1999
2000
2001
2002
Region/police force areaProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guilty
East
Cambridgeshire4924934991499548
Norfolk3416512665246629
Suffolk351639974236430
Bedfordshire174361558136717
Hertfordshire4010100271163113050
Essex551989271633012026
East Midlands
Derbyshire43139344935311258
Nottinghamshire16556261122251111276104
Lincolnshire7130934132916
Leicestershire9734201104235119253111
Northamptonshire40193610811228
London
Metropolitan Police1,5124252,0396721,6465501,666607
London, City of1163414117184
North East
Northumbria66141264624594302115
Durham238472256338642
Cleveland2012231024103110
North West
Cumbria95191017104817
Lancashire904018080299102358156
Merseyside5425123432057013460
Greater Manchester25380482177797308679253
Cheshire4511115441064210441
South East
Thames Valley8023132531727114968
Hampshire81402468723798270121
Surrey5612613111615
Kent3910713967294114
Sussex43897401135212742
South West
Devon and Cornwall30511744120429844
Avon and Somerset6327127401736119175
Gloucestershire188792760236030
Wiltshire2511291239214224
Dorset173501462235122
West Midlands
West Midlands198577062281,038318997322
Staffordshire235123761886817881
West Mercia207104451759915479
Warwickshire7521743196345
Yorkshire and the Humber
North Yorkshire75462543185017
West Yorkshire1524229791427115327129
South Yorkshire461669331176713975
Humberside24134419673711748
Welsh
Dyfed Powys217411743245535
Gwent432111637105518246
North Wales72431554194414
South Wales2016527010133811324392
England and Wales3,8151,2247,0572,6168,2883,0828,1543,240



Note:
These data are on the all offence basis.



 
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Sentencing

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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