House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 22 Jun 2009 (pt 0010)

22 Jun 2009 : Column 602W—continued

Probation: Sick Leave

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of sickness absence in the Probation Service in (a) London and (b) the London Borough of Lewisham. [280505]

Maria Eagle: London Probation has put in place a number of measures to tackle the levels of sickness in the whole area as well as in Lewisham and Greenwich. These include pro-active measures such as close monitoring by managers and return to work interviews, as well as a range of preventative measures such as health screens and stress management.

Probation: Training

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any specific funding is to be provided for the prioritised training ordered for the London Service. [280501]

Maria Eagle: There will be no additional funding provided for London Probation by National Offender Management Service. London Probation will fund this work from within their existing budget.

Rape: Convictions

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of those convicted of rape since 2006 were aged (a) 10 to 15, (b) 16 to 18, (c) 19 to 25, (d) 26 to 30 and (e) over 30 years old. [280668]

Claire Ward: The number of defendants found guilty for rape (of a female and male) at all courts, by age group, England and Wales 2006 to 2007 can be viewed in the table.

The figures given in the table 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.

Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.

Number of defendants found guilty of rape^{( 1)} at all courts, by age group, England and Wales 2006 and 2007^{( 2,3)}
	2006		2007
Age group	Found guilty	Percentage of total convictions	Found guilty	Percentage of total convictions
10 to 15 years	31	4	34	4
16 to 18 years	63	8	57	7
19 to 25 years	142	19	148	19
26 to 30 years	72	10	82	11
Over 30 years	446	59	456	59
Total	754	100	777	100
⁽¹⁾ Includes rape of a female and rape of a male offences, but not attempted rape of a male or female. ⁽²⁾ The statistics 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 the principal offence 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. ⁽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. Source: OCJR - Evidence and Analysis Unit

Sentencing

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish the sentencing guidelines for offences related to (a) child abuse, (b) child neglect and (c) sexual abuse of children. [281345]

Claire Ward: Sentencing guidelines are issued to the courts by the independent Sentencing Guidelines Council, not by the Government. In April 2007, the Sentencing Guidelines Council published a definitive guideline on the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and in February 2008, they published a definitive guideline on the Overarching Principles: Assaults on Children and Cruelty to a Child.

These and all other published guidelines can be viewed at:

www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk

Sexual Offences: Reoffenders

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of sex offences who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available; [280838]

22 Jun 2009 : Column 603W

(2) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of violent crimes who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available; [280843]

(3) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of burglary who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available; [280848]

(4) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of robbery who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available; [280849]

(5) what the re-offending rate was for offenders convicted of theft who received (a) a community sentence, (b) a prison sentence of less than 12 months, (c) a prison sentence of between 12 months and two years, (d) a prison sentence of between two and four years and (e) a prison sentence of over four years in the latest period for which figures are available. [280850]

Mr. Straw: Tables 1 and 2 show the one-year adult reoffending rates for offenders in England and Wales released from custody or commencing a court order in the first quarter (1 January to 31 March) of 2007, for offenders convicted of sex offences (with sexual offences against children as a separate group), violent crimes, burglary (with domestic and non-domestic as separate groups), robbery and theft. The tables also show the proportion of offenders who committed at least one further offence and the frequency of offences per 100 offenders. It is important to note that a reoffence does not mean the offence is in the same category as the index offence. So an offender whose index offence was sexual who committed a number of reoffences, may have committed no more sexual offences.

22 Jun 2009 : Column 604W

Table 1: One-year reoffending rates, offenders commencing a court order or released from custody in q uarter 1 2007 by offence group
Offence group/disposal	Number of offenders	Actual reoffending rate	Number of offences per 100 offenders
Court orders^{( 1)}
Violence	10,301	28.8	75.4
Sexual	294	22.1	51.7
Sexual (child)	209	12.0	32.1
Domestic burglary	842	50.8	162.2
Other burglary	1,082	57.6	207.1
Robbery	144	36.1	94.4
Theft	5,627	59.1	251.6

Custody
Violence	2,922	40.8	155.4
Sexual	213	28.2	128.6
Sexual (child)	377	6.9	16.2
Domestic burglary	778	49.6	198.5
Other burglary	504	67.9	318.7
Robbery	672	35.6	123.7
Theft	2,001	75.6	468.2
^{(1 )}Court orders include pre-CJA 2003 community sentences, new community orders and suspended sentence orders.

Table 2: One-year reoffending rates, offenders released from custody in quarter 1 2007 by offence group and sentence length
Offence group/disposal	Number of offenders	Actual reoffending rate	Number of offences per 100 offenders
Less than 12months
Violence	1,772	52.8	212.0
Sexual	90	45.6	225.6
Sexual (child)	53	3.8	⁽¹⁾—
Domestic burglary	180	62.2	300.6
Other burglary	367	75.7	372.2
Robbery	⁽²⁾36	⁽²⁾66.7	⁽²⁾236.1
Theft	1,868	79.5	495.2

12 months to less than 2 years
Violence	482	25.3	76.1
Sexual	⁽²⁾37	⁽²⁾32.4	⁽²⁾151.4
Sexual (child)	78	11.5	⁽²⁾35.9
Domestic burglary	227	50.2	181.1
Other burglary	89	56.2	188.8
Robbery	120	45.0	164.2
Theft	86	26.7	112.8

2 years to less than 4 years
Violence	383	23.5	62.9
Sexual	⁽²⁾41	⁽²⁾7.3	⁽¹⁾—
Sexual (child)	113	5.3	⁽²⁾9.7
Domestic burglary	301	44.5	165.8
Other burglary	⁽²⁾43	⁽²⁾30.2	⁽²⁾155.8
Robbery	299	32.8	112.7
Theft	⁽²⁾38	⁽²⁾10.5	⁽²⁾34.2

4 years and over
Violence	285	16.1	61.8
Sexual	⁽²⁾45	⁽²⁾8.9	⁽²⁾26.7
Sexual (child)	133	6.8	⁽²⁾14.3
Domestic burglary	70	37.1	132.9
Other burglary	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
Robbery	217	29.0	97.7
Theft	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—
⁽¹⁾ Data removed as extremely low numbers (less than or equal to 10 offenders or 10 offences) make the data unreliable for interpretation. ⁽²⁾ Greater than 10 and less than 50 offenders or offences—treat the data with caution.

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