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3 Jun 2009 : Column 534W—continued


Young Offenders

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persistent young offenders there are in each criminal justice area. [276847]

Mr. Straw: A persistent young offender (PYO) is a young person aged 10 to 17 who has been sentenced guilty by any criminal court in the UK on three or more separate occasions for one or more recordable offence, and within three years of the last sentencing occasion is subsequently arrested or has an information laid against them for a further recordable offence.

This definition is designed to measure the speed and efficiency of the youth justice system, through monitoring the pledge to halve the average time from arrest to sentence for dealing with PYOs in England and Wales from 142 days in 1996 to 71 days. However, the definition is not designed to provide a reliable measure of the level of youth offending over time, and it will give a misleading picture of the true trend if used for this purpose.

The above pledge was first met over a full calendar year in 2002 and has been met in all but one calendar year since then. Youth sentencing is therefore now more timely, and for repeat offenders more frequent, than it used to be prior to 1997. As the PYO definition relies on repeat sentencing occasions, a side-effect of the Government’s success in bringing much swifter justice to young repeat offenders is that more of them end up being defined as PYOs.

The table shows the number of individual PYOs sentenced in 2008, for each police force area.

On 10 December 2008, Official Report, columns 58-59WS, I announced in a written ministerial statement that the PYO pledge would be dropped with effect from the end of 2008. This is therefore the last year for which PYO statistics will be published and compiled.

Number of persistent young offenders (PYOs) sentenced in 2008, by police force area
Police force area Number of persistent young offenders

Avon and Somerset

394

Bedfordshire

110

Cambridgeshire

191

Cheshire

242

Cleveland

304

Cumbria

240

Derbyshire

296

Devon and Cornwall

335

Dorset

143

Durham

259

Dyfed-Powys

134

Essex

397

Gloucestershire

164

Greater Manchester

1,158

Gwent

173

Hampshire

676

Hertfordshire

188

Humberside

365

Kent

354

Lancashire

617

Leicestershire

232

Lincolnshire

106

Merseyside

471

Metropolitan

1,849

Norfolk

157

North Wales

203

North Yorkshire

250

Northamptonshire

160

Northumbria

826

Nottinghamshire

331

South Wales

355

South Yorkshire

388

Staffordshire

268

Suffolk

208

Surrey

120

Sussex

362

Thames Valley

428

Warwickshire

117

West Mercia

312

West Midlands

715

West Yorkshire

875

Wiltshire

111

England and Wales(1)

15,819

(1) The England and Wales total figure includes British Transport Police.

Work and Pensions

Atos Healthcare

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department's contract with Atos Healthcare is expected to expire. [275104]


3 Jun 2009 : Column 535W

Jonathan Shaw: The Department for Work and Pensions contract with Atos Healthcare commenced on 1 September 2005 and is due to expire on 31 August 2012. The Department also has options to extend for a further five years up to 31 August 2017.

Children: Maintenance

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many child maintenance cases are unable to be processed due to technical faults with the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission’s computer systems; how many cases have been so affected in each of the last five years; and what the (a) longest and (b) average delay in processing claims due to computer system failures was in (i) North West Cambridgeshire constituency, (ii) Cambridgeshire, (iii) the East of England and (iv) the North West and Wales in each of the last five years. [274048]

Kitty Ussher: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty:

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was owed in arrears of child maintenance payments in each quarter of each of the last two years; what recent progress has been made towards the payment of such arrears; what priority the payment of such arrears has in the work programme of the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission;
3 Jun 2009 : Column 536W
whether such targets have been set for the reductions of levels of such arrears; and if he will make a statement. [274722]

Kitty Ussher [holding answer 12 May 2009]: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty:


3 Jun 2009 : Column 537W
Child maintenance arrears and maintenance collected and arranged including arrears each quarter from March 2007 to March 2009.
Child maintenance arrears Overall maintenance collected and arranged including arrears (rolling 12 Months)
Quarter ending Arrears (£ billion) 12 months ending Total maintenance collected (£ million) Of which arrears (£ million)

March 2007

3.69

March 2007

898

91

June 2007

3.73

June 2007

916

97

September 2007

3.76

September 2007

942

106

December 2007

3.79

December 2007

975

116

March 2008

3.81

March 2008

1,010

126

June 2008(1)

3.82

June 2008

1,050

138

September 2008(1)

3.83

September 2008

1,088

149

December 2008(1)

3.84

December 2008

1,112

156

March 2009(1)

3.83

March 2009

1,132

158

(1 )Figures up to and including March 2008 have been audited. Figures after this date are yet to be audited and signed off.
Note:
The total debt outstanding is cumulative total of all debt accrued since the launch of the Child Support Agency in 1993.

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