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18 Jun 2009 : Column 482W—continued
—continuedSuicide: Easington
John Cummings: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many suicides there were in Easington constituency in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. [279853]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many suicides took place in Easington constituency in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. (279853)
The table attached provides the number of deaths in Easington parliamentary constituency where suicide was the underlying cause of death, for the years 2005 to 2008.
| Table 1: Number of deaths where suicide was the underlying cause of death, Easington parliamentary constituency, 2005 - 08( 1,2,3,4,5) | |
| Deaths | |
| (1) Suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 and Y10-Y34, excluding Y33.9 (where the coroner’s verdict was pending). (2) Suicide and undetermined intent deaths have not been included for children under the age of 15 years. (3) Based on boundaries as of 2009. (4) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (5) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional. | |
Justice
30 Year Rule Review
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his response is to the recommendation of the Review of the Thirty Year Rule that reducing the period should be phased through the release of two years’ worth of material each year. [279877]
Mr. Straw: The Prime Minister announced to the House on 10 June 2009, Official Report, column 797, that the Government will reduce the 30 year rule to 20 years.
The Ministry of Justice will respond to the detailed recommendations of the Dacre Review by the summer.
Administration of Justice: ICT
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to introduce an integrated IT system to link-up the probation, police, courts and prisons services. [280186]
Claire Ward: We have already put in place a technology infrastructure for these core criminal justice agencies and established a technology capability to help integrate the flow of information between these agencies through a secure, central exchange.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to improve internal communications systems within the criminal justice system. [280187]
Claire Ward: We have done much to improve communications within the criminal justice system. Each of the core criminal justice agencies now has a technology infrastructure and we have the put in place the capability for agencies to exchange information securely between each other and with those outside the system.
Of course, we need to continue to improve information sharing, and we are, for example, this year putting in place the ability for the police to gain access to the outcome of court hearings automatically.
Bail: Crimes of Violence
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many and what proportion of offenders released on bail in 2007 were (a) originally charged with and (b) subsequently sentenced for (i) offences of violence against the person and (ii) sexual offences; [279226]
(2) how many and what proportion of (a) defendants released on bail and (b) defendants charged with violence against the person or sexual offences and then released on bail (i) failed to attend sentencing hearings and (ii) broke their bail conditions in other ways in 2007. [279229]
Mr. Straw: The annual publication ‘Criminal Statistics’ contains estimates of the number of defendants in certain offence groups who were bailed by the courts. The estimated number of defendants who were granted bail at magistrates courts in England and Wales during 2007 in connection with ‘Violence against the Person’ and ‘Sexual offences’ was 43,200 and 4,800 respectively, corresponding to 9 and 1 per cent. of the total number of persons who were bailed at magistrates courts for all offences (Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, table 4.10). These figures include those also held in custody for some but not the whole period of the proceedings. The number of offenders subsequently sentenced for these offence types are not available.
The estimated number of defendants who were granted bail at all magistrates courts and who subsequently failed to appear as directed to any hearing, not just a sentencing hearing, in England and Wales during 2007 was 3,400 for ‘Violence against the person’ (8 per cent. of the number of persons bailed for this offence type). For ‘Sexual offences’ the figure was 300 (6 per cent. of the number of persons bailed for this offence type). For all offences, the figure was 51,500 (11 per cent. of persons bailed) (Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, table 4.10). These figures include those also held in custody for some but not the whole period of the proceedings. These remands data are not comparable with other court proceedings data.
The Ministry of Justice holds no data on how many defendants breached their bail conditions. Breach of bail conditions is not an offence and therefore carries no penalty. Any person who breaches a bail condition is liable to immediate arrest and it is the responsibility of the court to re-consider bail as a whole and decide whether to grant bail again on the same or different conditions or to remand into custody.
Mr. Grieve:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many defendants were charged with offences of violence against the person or sexual offences in 2007;
how many and what proportion of those so charged were (a) granted and (b) refused bail; and what condition of schedule 1 of the Bail Act 1976 was cited as the reason not to grant bail in each case; [279230]
(2) how many offenders were (a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted of (i) offences of violence against the person and (ii) sexual offences in 2007. [279231]
Mr. Straw: The number of defendants who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for ‘violence against the person’ and ‘sexual offences’, England and Wales, for the year 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Charging data are not held by the Ministry of Justice, so proceeded against data have been provided in lieu.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
The annual publication “Criminal Statistics” contains estimates of the number of defendants in certain offence groups who were bailed by the courts. The estimated number of defendants who were granted bail at all magistrates courts in England and Wales during 2007 in connection with offences in the “Violence against the person and Sexual offences” groups was 43,200 and 4,800 respectively (Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, table 4.10). These figures include those also held in custody for some but not the whole period of the proceedings. Data for 2008 will be available later this year.
These data are not comparable with the court proceedings data presented elsewhere in this answer, therefore they cannot be used to compute the proportions of defendants granted or refused bail.
The court may withhold bail if it is satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that, if released on bail, the defendant would abscond, commit an offence, interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. In making its decision the court must consider all the circumstances of the case as appear to be relevant. This will include the nature and seriousness of the alleged offence and the weight of the evidence against the defendant, the defendant’s character, antecedents, associations, community ties and past record of complying with bail, as well as any other factors which appear relevant to the court. Data on bail collected centrally by my Department do not include information on the reasons given for refusing bail. This information would have to be retrieved by inspecting individual court records which could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
| N umber of defendants who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for sexual and violence against the person offences In England and Wales, 2007( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3) | ||||
| Proceeded against | Found guilty | |||
| Sexual offences( 4,)( )( 5) | Violence against the p erson( 6) | Sexual o ffences( 4,)( )( 5) | Violence against the person( 6) | |
| (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Sexual and violence against the person offences include ‘indictable only’ and ‘triable-either way offences’. ‘Indictable only’ are the most serious breaches of the criminal law and must be dealt with at the Crown Court. Triable-either-way offences may be tried at either the Crown Court or at magistrates courts. The offence groups do not include summary offences. 3 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. 4 The sexual offences category includes offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which came into force on 1 May 2004. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 represented a major overhaul of the law and so comparisons with old offending regimes can be misleading. (5) The sexual offences category includes the following offences: Buggery Sexual assault on a male Indecency between males Rape of a female Rape of a male Sexual assault on a female Sexual activity with child under 13 Sexual activity with child under 16 Familial sexual offences (incest) Exploitation of prostitution Abduction Bigamy Soliciting of women by men Sexual activity etc. with a person with a mental disorder Abuse of children through prostitution and pornography Trafficking for sexual exploitation Abuse of trust—sexual offences Gross indecency with children Miscellaneous sexual offences (6) The Violence against the person category includes the following offence classes: Murder Attempted murder Threat or conspiracy to murder Manslaughter Infanticide Child destruction Causing death by dangerous driving Manslaughter due to diminished responsibility Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs Causing death of a child or vulnerable person Wounding or other act endangering life Endangering railway passenger Endangering life at sea Malicious wounding etc. Cruelty to or neglect of children Abandoning child aged under two years Child abduction Procuring illegal abortion Concealment of birth Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking Source: OCJR—E and A: Office for criminal justice reform—evidence and analysis unit, Ministry of Justice | ||||
Crimes of Violence: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point convicted of serious violent offences and who served sentences of under two years duration re-offended in each of the last five years. [279282]
Maria Eagle: The requested information is not available. The data sets compiled by the Ministry of Justice to analyse reoffending by adults and juveniles do not enable reoffending rates to be calculated at this level of detail. Although data have recently been published on reoffending at a local level these data cannot be broken down by sentence length or offence type and so cannot be used to answer this question.
The available data on local reoffending can be found at
Crimes of Violence: Sentencing
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length was of sentences (a) handed down to and (b) served by those who were convicted of (i) violence against the person, (ii) sexual offences and (iii) robbery in 2007. [279225]
Mr. Straw: The following table shows the average length of a determinate immediate custodial sentence for 2007.
| Average length of immediate custodial sentence( 1) in months for 2007 | |
| Average length | |
| (1) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. 2. 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: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice | |
These figures can all be found in table 2.12 of Sentencing Statistics 2007 available at the following link:
It is not possible to provide data on time served for those prisoners convicted in 2007 because some will still be serving their sentences. If the offence was committed on or after 4 April 2005, release arrangements are covered by the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 2003, where either a standard determinate sentence, Extended Sentence for Public Protection or Imprisonment for Public Protection would apply. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 amended certain sentences from the CJA 2003. Life sentence prisoners are released under the terms of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.
Average time served in prison for 2007 could be found in table 9.1 of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2007 available at the following link:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/prisonand probation.htm
These data are based on the principal offence. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence it is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of offenders sentenced for offences of violence against the person or sexual offences received (a) a custodial sentence and (b) a non-custodial sentence or other disposal in each of the last two years. [279232]
Mr. Straw: The requested information is shown as follows:
| Number and percentage of offenders sentenced for violence against the person or sexual offences receiving custodial and non-custodial sentences, 2006-07 | ||||||||
| Violence against the person | Sexual offences | |||||||
| 2006 | 2007 | 2006 | 2007 | |||||
| Offenders | Percentage of offenders | Offenders | Percentage of offenders | Offenders | Percentage of offenders | Offenders | Percentage of offenders | |
| Note : 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: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice | ||||||||
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