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16 May 2007 : Column 799W—continued

Antisocial Behaviour: Young People

Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of area curfew schemes for young people to combat criminal and antisocial behaviour. [137095]


16 May 2007 : Column 800W

Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.

No assessment has been made of the success of local child curfew schemes under section 14 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 as they have not been used.

However, between January 2004 and 1 April 2006, the police have used the power in section 30 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act to disperse unruly groups in over 1,000 designated areas. In these areas, the police have succeeded in tackling underage drinking, joyriding, noise nuisance, the antisocial use of fireworks and the harassment and intimidation of residents.

This is one example of our commitment to empowering local communities to tackle the blight of antisocial behaviour

Section 30 also gives the police power to return to their homes young people under 16 who are unsupervised in public places in such areas after 9 pm. A young person may have a legitimate reason for being out at night unsupervised and the power to return young people to their homes is discretionary: it is not a curfew.

This power protects young people from the risks posed by being unsupervised at night in public places within particular areas where they might get involved in, or become victims of, antisocial behaviour and helps the police to protect local communities from the alarm and distress that unsupervised young people can cause. Statistics for police exercising the power to return home young people under 16 are not available.

The section 30 powers are not intended to be used in isolation, but should form part of an integrated response to tackling crime and disorder and antisocial behaviour in local areas. This includes work by YOTs to prevent young people getting involved in offending and antisocial behaviour.

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many owners of dogs registered on the Index of Exempted Dogs have been prosecuted since 1991 under (a) section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and (b) the Dogs Act 1871. [122351]

Mr. Coaker: Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of people proceeded against at magistrates court under section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and the Dogs Act 1871 in England and Wales, 1991 to 2005, is shown in the following tables.

The database, however, does not record whether any of the people proceeded against were owners of dogs registered on the Index of Exempted Dogs. Neither does the Index of Exempted Dogs record whether an owner of a dog on the index has been subject to any court proceedings.

Figures for 2006 will be available in the autumn.


16 May 2007 : Column 801W

16 May 2007 : Column 802W
Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates court for offences relating to section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and the Dogs Act 1871, in England and Wales, 1991-2005( 1, 2)
Statute Offence description 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec 3(1).

Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place injuring any person.

0

310

349

286

259

221

259

434

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec 3(3).

Owner or person in charge allowing dog to enter a non-public place and injure any person.

0

20

36

25

22

18

22

28

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec 3(1).

Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place, no injury being caused.

0

388

307

196

189

162

175

247

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec 3(3).

Owner or person in charge allowing dog to enter a non- public place causing reasonable apprehension of injury to a person.

0

30

21

8

18

4

10

12

Dangerous Dogs Act 1989. Dogs Act 1871 Sec 2.

Failure to comply with an order to keep a dog under proper control etc. Dangerous dog not kept under proper control.

1 ,031

889

609

551

510

513

492

454

Total

1,031

1,637

1,322

1,066

998

918

958

1,175


Statute Offence description 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec 3(1).

Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place injuring any person.

449

458

490

537

560

597

645

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec 3(3).

Owner or person in charge allowing dog to enter a non-public place and injure any person.

34

48

50

38

52

48

44

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec 3(1).

Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place, no injury being caused.

254

266

278

284

329

290

278

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Sec 3(3).

Owner or person in charge allowing dog to enter a non- public place causing reasonable apprehension of injury to a person.

9

24

20

18

20

11

24

Dangerous Dogs Act 1989. Dogs Act 1871 Sec 2.

Failure to comply with an order to keep a dog under proper control etc. Dangerous dog not kept under proper control.

401

462

374

336

335

352

306

Total

1,147

1,258

1,212

1,213

1,296

1,298

1,297

(1) These data are on the principal offence basis.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Note:
Offence codes for Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 were introduced to the court proceeding database from 1 January 1992.
Source:
RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Driving Offences: Foreigners

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people (a) charged and (b) convicted in each of the last five years (i) were not UK citizens, (ii) did not hold a valid British driving licence and (iii) had not applied for a British driving test. [127656]

Mr. Coaker: Information on the individual circumstances of offenders is not held on the Court Proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, therefore the requested information is unavailable.

Drug Interventions Programme

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) budget allocation is for each intensive DIP area in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [132345]


16 May 2007 : Column 803W

Mr. Coaker: Over £500 million has been invested as part of the Drug Interventions Programme since its inception in 2003. Record numbers of offenders are entering treatment through the programme and drug related acquisitive crime has reduced substantially. The DIP Main Grant, which is the key mechanism for allocating budgets to areas, is being allocated to intensive areas as in the following table.


16 May 2007 : Column 804W
Indicative intensive area budgets 2007-08
Amount (£)

London

Brent

1,203,160

Camden

1,191,678

Croydon

1,001,817

Ealing

988,786

Enfield

759,292

Greenwich

827,205

Hackney

1,513,524

Hammersmith and Fulham

1,118,469

Haringey

1,243,541

Hounslow

794,244

Islington

1,333,277

Kensington and Chelsea

1,008,137

Lambeth

1,930,537

Lewisham

1,378,639

Newham

1,357,782

Redbridge

663,812

Southwark

1,655,389

Tower Hamlets

1,415,658

Waltham Forest

925,327

Wandsworth

1,034,156

Westminster

2,016,350

Yorkshire and Humber

Barnsley

807,613

Bradford

1,926,287

Calderdale

685,101

Doncaster

1,317,965

Kingston upon Hull

1,422,020

Kirklees

1,219,885

Leeds

2,737,443

North East Lincolnshire

914,255

North Lincolnshire

786,869

Rotherham

756,064

Sheffield

2,348,164

Wakefield

1 ,094,559

East Midlands

Leicester

1,558,632

Northamptonshire

1,034,269

Nottingham

1,794,787

Nottinghamshire

2,339,136

East of England

Luton

700,528

Peterborough

774,057

South West

Bristol

2,448,659

North East

Gateshead

627,944

Hartlepool

609,010

Middlesbrough

1,022,237

Newcastle Upon Tyne

1,290,574

Stockton

688,901

Sunderland

782,823

West Midlands

Birmingham

5,287,239

Coventry

900,865

Dudley

723,448

Sandwell

1,003,679

Solihull

407,131

Walsall

642,837

Wolverhampton

826,579

North West

Bolton

1,136,727

Bury

552,298

Liverpool

2,154,389

Manchester

2,848,647

Oldham

890,494

Rochdale

778,885

Salford

771,116

Stockport

664,181

Tameside

823,130

Trafford

693,096

Wigan

1,046,181

South East

Oxfordshire

1,195,115

Reading

1,106,837

Slough

854,146


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