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The Department also utilises other agencies to meet any additional temporary staffing requirements. Information relating to these arrangements is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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Driving Offences

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many drivers under the age of 25 years were prosecuted for driving over the permitted alcohol limit in each region of England and Wales in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) 2008 to date; [227140]

(2) how many drivers under the age of 25 years were prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs in each region of England and Wales in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) 2008 to date; [227151]

(3) how many people were prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs in each region of England and Wales in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) 2008 to date. [227154]

Maria Eagle: Data on prosecutions for the specific offence of driving over the prescribed alcohol limit are available only on a national (England and Wales) basis. They are given in the following table. Data on prosecutions for all offences of driving after consuming alcohol or drugs, broken down by region, are also given. It is not possible to identify separately how many of these prosecutions involved drugs and how many alcohol. 2007 data will be available later this year; 2008 data will be available late in 2009.

Table A: Proceedings at magistrates courts for driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs( 1) , by age group, and by Government office region, 1997, 2000 and 2006
Number of offences
	1997		2000		2006
Government office region	Under age 25	Total all ages	Under age 25	Total all ages	Under age 25	Total all ages
North East	1,407	5,142	1,558	5,034	1,634	5,000
North West	3,717	15,218	3,738	13,353	4,188	13,969
Yorkshire and the Humber	2,364	9,873	2,330	8,748	2,717	9,060
East Midlands	2,191	8,361	1,870	6,974	2,228	7,635
West Midlands	2,815	12,496	2,267	9,818	2,873	11,059
East	2,558	9,698	2,306	8,175	2,716	10,191
London	3,691	19,457	2,963	14,359	3,103	15,138
South East	3,839	15,369	3,896	14,596	4,059	14,141
South West	2,472	9,397	2,190	8,272	2,606	8,538
Wales	2,003	7,176	1,999	6,831	2,107	6,692
England and Wales	27,057	112,187	25,117	96,160	28,231	101,423
(1) Data provided covers summary offences of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs (which cannot be reliably distinguished separately). Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. 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.

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Table B: Proceedings at magistrates courts for offences of ‘driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle while having a breath, urine or blood alcohol concentration in excess of the prescribed limit’( 1) , by age group and Government office region, 1997, 2000 and 2006
Number of offences
	1997		2000		2006
Government office region	Under age 25	Total all ages	Under age 25	Total all ages	Under age 25	Total all ages
North East	1,115	4,044	1,199	3,863	1,416	4,108
North West	3,034	12,249	3,129	10,500	3,585	11,391
Yorkshire and the Humber	1,951	7,800	1,926	6,860	2,348	7,395
East Midlands	1,885	6,788	1,519	5,364	1,920	6,144
West Midlands	2,352	10,024	1,893	7,576	2,472	8,848
East	2,219	8,064	1,984	6,707	2,349	8,428
London	2,878	14,161	2,318	10,218	2,380	10,870
South East	3,316	12,870	3,380	12,168	3,517	11,758
South West	2,166	7,758	1,868	6,599	2,260	6,957
Wales	1,640	5,746	1,626	5,209	1,809	5,454
England and Wales	22,556	89,504	20,842	75,064	24,056	81,353
(1) Offences under s5(1)(a) Road Traffic Act 1988. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. 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.

Table C: Proceedings at magistrates’ courts for offences of ‘being in charge of a motor vehicle while having a breath, urine or blood alcohol concentration in excess of the prescribed limit’( 1) , by age group and Government office region, 1997, 2000 and 2006
Number of offences
	1997		2000		2006
Government office region	Under age 25	Total all ages	Under age 25	Total all ages	Under age 25	Total all ages
North East	41	158	70	219	33	96
North West	100	399	123	417	68	303
Yorkshire and the Humber	73	291	58	237	43	159
East Midlands	79	282	66	241	50	187
West Midlands	72	341	65	322	61	279
East	73	297	46	236	52	240
London	129	759	117	703	111	649
South East	152	572	126	472	71	326
South West	62	307	53	250	55	228
Wales	44	157	48	169	48	128
England and Wales	825	3,563	772	3,266	592	2,595
(1) Offences under s5(1)(b) Road Traffic Act 1988. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. 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.

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