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1 May 2008 : Column 660W—continued

Protection of Badgers Act 1992: Prosecutions

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of those prosecuted under the provisions of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 received custodial sentences, excluding suspended sentences, in each year since its introduction. [202728]

Mr. Hanson: The requested information is contained in the following table.

1 May 2008 : Column 661W

Number sentenced( 1) for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, all courts, England and Wales 1992 to 2006
	Total sentenced	Immediate custody
1992	—	—
1993	31	2
1994	35	6
1995	33	3
1996	23	5
1997	29	10
1998	10	—
1999	28	4
2000	20	—
2001	36	—
2002	28	3
2003	16	—
2004	22	1
2005	20	8
2006	7	1
(1) Principal offences basis. Note: The offence of 'Failing to give up a dog for destruction to having custody of a dog whilst disqualified' is an offence under the Badger Act (1992) and the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991). It has been included in these figures, although it is not possible to tell which Act was intended when sentencing. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: NOMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.

1 May 2008 : Column 662W

Young Offenders: Remand in Custody

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) 15, (b) 16 and (c) 17-year-olds were on remand in each police authority area in each year since 1997; and how many went on to serve a prison sentence. [200246]

Mr. Hanson: The numbers of 15 to 17-year-olds held on remand (incorporating untried and convicted unsentenced) in all prison establishments in England and Wales since 1997 can be found in the following table. A breakdown by police authority area is not available.

Population of under 18-year-olds held on remand since 1997 (as at 30 June)
				1997		1998		1999		2000	2001		2002		2003		2004		2005		2006
Males and females on remand
Aged 15				74		86		44		51	48		59		37		52		52		59
Aged 16				171		183		155		114	98		154		121		118		121		134
Aged 17				561		508		513		409	312		305		314		340		313		380
Males on remand
Aged 15				74		86		44		51	48		59		37		52		52		59
Aged 16				171		183		155		114	98		154		121		117		121		134
Aged 17				543		491		494		389	287		293		294		322		298		361
Females on remand
Aged 15				0		0		0		0	0		0		0		0		0		0
Aged 16				0		0		0		0	0		0		1		0		0		0
Aged 17				18		17		19		20	25		12		20		18		15		19

The following table gives the percentages of prisoners of all ages held on remand⁽¹⁾ where the outcome of the court proceedings is a period of immediate custody. This information is not available for 15 to 17-year-olds separately.

⁽¹⁾ Includes persons remanded in custody by magistrates during proceedings or on committal.

Percentage
				2000		2001		2002		2003		2004		2005		2006
Males
Immediate custody				48		51		50		49		52		53		54
Females
Immediate custody				36		42		41		40		41		43		45

These figures are taken from the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2006, tables 8.20 and 7.11, copies of which can be found in the House of Commons Library and which can also be found at the website:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonandprobation.htm

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Communities and Local Government

Building Research Establishment: Home Information Packs

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the role of the Building Research Establishment was in the home information pack area trials. [202459]

1 May 2008 : Column 663W

Caroline Flint: Building Research Establishment were sub contracted by Ipsos MORI to assist in the analysis and write-up of the findings of the area trials.

Connect Public Affairs

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments the (a) Core Cities Group, (b) Thames Gateway London Partnership and (c) Housing Corporation made to Connect Public Affairs in each of the last five years; on what dates; and for what purpose in each case. [202286]

Caroline Flint: The Housing Corporation has not made any payments to Connect Public Affairs during this period. The Core Cities Group and Thames Gateway London Partnership are independent of my Department and are open to employ public relations agencies directly. Any information should be sought from them.

Conservation Areas

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many conservation areas there are in England. [202618]

Mr. Iain Wright: English Heritage publish information on conservation areas in their annual publication Heritage Counts. The most recent edition, Heritage Counts 2007, quotes a figure of 9,374 conservation areas in England—a figure first quoted in Heritage Counts 2005—with the following qualification:

"After the publication of Heritage Counts 2005, it became apparent while updating the figures that English Heritage had not been informed of all conservation area designations and the data gave an inaccurate representation of the total number. Heritage Counts 2005 quoted a figure of 9,374 conservation areas as of April 2005. SHER 2002 had quoted a figure of 9,027 as of June 2002. Data from local authorities collected as part of the Best Value Performance Indicator regime give a different figure of 9,273 conservation areas in England in 2005-06.

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