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25 Jun 2009 : Column 1138W—continued
Furniture: Ministry of Justice
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on furniture in 2008-09. [279264]
Mr. Straw: The expenditure on furniture by the Ministry in the financial year 2008-09 is listed in the following table.
| £ | |
The figure for the National Offender Management Service does not include the 42 local probation boards and trusts. Information on the costs of furniture is held locally and can be collated only at disproportionate cost.
Furniture is typically used for a period of 20 years within the Department. Major acquisitions usually occur only where a new building is taken on following the expiry of building leases. The majority of headquarters expenditure relates to the move to a new headquarters building as part of a major rationalisation of the Ministry’s London estate.
The reduction in the number of buildings occupied in central London, increased capacity of the building and move to flexible workspace in 102 Petty France will in future save an estimated £10 million a year. This move will enable more effective working and the reduction of the size and cost of the London estate.
National Offender Management Service: Manpower
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many National Offender Management Service employees are viewed as surplus. [280831]
Mr. Straw: As at 15 June 2009 there were 201 individual employees registered as surplus in the National Offender Management Service.
Offences against Children: Convictions
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted of sexual offences against children in each year since 1997. [280782]
Claire Ward: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for sexual offences against children, 1997 to 2007 is shown in tables 1 and 2.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales to provide extra protection to children .from sexual exploitation. This makes direct comparisons with previous legislation very difficult. Many new offences created by the Act will not have a direct equivalent under the old legislation. Table 1 covers offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956, with table 2 covering offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
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.
| Table 1: Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of sexual offences against persons aged under 18 years, England and Wales 1997 to 2003, under the Sexual Offences Act 1956( 1, 2, 3, 4) | ||||||||
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | |||||
| Offence class | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty |
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||||
| Offence class | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Proceeded against | Found guilty |
| (1) 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. (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. (3) The numbers found guilty may exceed those proceeded against in table 1, as it may be the case that the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in the preceding year to the defendant being found guilty at the Crown court in the following year, or the defendant was found guilty for a different offence to the original offence proceeded against. (4) Covers offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which identify the victim as a minor at the time the offences was committed. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice | ||||||
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