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21 July 2009 : Column 1396W—continued


Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress has been made in the pilot benefit sanction scheme operated by magistrates' courts; what assessment has been made of the effect of the scheme on levels of crime in the pilot areas; and whether he plans to extend that scheme to other areas. [276515]

Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.

A written statement was made on 27 February 2009, announcing the intention to end the community sentence sanction pilots, subject to parliamentary approval. Initial evaluation research showed a modest 1.8 per cent. improvement in compliance by sanctioned offenders, directly attributable to the impact of the policy.

Taking into account the overall cost-effectiveness of running the pilot scheme and other measures introduced to strengthen compliance and enforcement, it was decided that the pilots should end and should not be rolled out nationally. The appropriate legislation to end the pilots is being taken forward as part of the Welfare Reform Bill.

Victim Support Schemes

Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been distributed from the Victims Fund on 2008-09; and which groups received money from the fund for the provision of services to victims of hate crime or homicide in that year. [288222]

Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 20 July 2009]: I have been asked to reply.

The Government distributed a total of £277,618.08 from the Victims Fund between 13 groups for the provision of services to victims of hate crime or homicide for the period 2008-09. £1.25 million was allocated to victims of sexual violence.


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£109,976 was distributed for the provision of services to victims of homicide to five groups and they were as follows:

£167,642 was distributed for the provision of services to victims of hate crime to eight groups and they were as follows:

Young Offenders

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many under 18 year olds have been (a) prosecuted
21 July 2009 : Column 1398W
and (b) convicted for (i) sexual offences, (ii) robbery, (iii) criminal damage, (iv) drug offences and (v) violent offences in each year since 1999. [277797]

Mr. Straw: The number of persons aged 10 to 17 who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for the requested offence groups in England and Wales, for the years 1999 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.

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.

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.


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Number of persons aged 10 to 17 who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for selected indictable offences( 1) , England and Wales 1999 to 2007( 2, 3)
Proceeded against Found guilty

 Sexual Offences( 4,)( )( 5) Robbery( 6) Criminal Damage( 7) Drug Offences( 8) Violence against the Person( 9) Sexual Offences( 4, 5) Robbery( 6) Criminal Damage( 7) Drug Offences( 8) Violence against the Person( 9)

1999

916

4,107

4,235

3,823

10,898

489

2,044

2,691

3,113

5,982

2000(10)

929

5,309

4,104

4,390

11,777

463

2,213

2,527

3,696

6,253

2001

1,120

6,688

4,841

5,312

13,154

511

2,792

2,897

4,341

6,910

2002

1,208

6,618

4,795

5,954

12,392

557

2,807

2,910

4,957

6,871

2003

1,073

5,546

4,770

6,003

11,999

448

2,641

2,948

5,145

6,579

2004

1,237

5,666

4,632

5,125

11,314

587

2,964

3,233

4,478

6,906

2005

1,146

5,809

4,434

5,214

11,168

554

3,079

3,268

4,628

7,428

2006

987

6,418

4,742

4,977

11,052

492

3,701

3,669

4,455

7,520

2007

1,009

6,808

4,623

5,855

10,738

543

4,115

3,627

5,264

7,679

(1 )Includes Indictable 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.
(2 )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.
(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 )Sexual Offences includes data for the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which came into force on 1 May 2004.
(5) Sexual Offences offence type includes the following offence classes:
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) Robbery offence type includes the following offence class:
Robbery
(7) Criminal Damage offence type includes the following offence classes:
Arson
Criminal Damage Endangering Life
Other Criminal Damage
Threat etc., to commit Criminal Damage
(8) Drug offences includes the following offence classes:
Unlawful importation-Class A
Unlawful importation-Class B
Unlawful importation-Class C
Unlawful importation-Class unspecified
Unlawful exportation-Class A
Unlawful exportation-Class B
Unlawful exportation-Class C
Unlawful exportation-Class Unspecified
Production, supply and possession with intent to supply a controlled drug-Class A
Production-Class B
Production-Class C
Production-Class unspecified
Possession of a controlled drug-Class A
Possession-Class B
Possession-Class C
Possession-Class unspecified
Other drug offences
(9) Violence against the person offence type 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
(10) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.
Source:
OCJR-E and A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform-Evidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice

Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of the costs of (a) national and regional management and administration, (b) premises, (c) insurance, (d) staff pensions, (e) depreciation, (f) land, (g) capital and (h) other central expenditure on his estimate of the average annual cost of providing a custodial place for a young offender. [288651]

Maria Eagle: The overall average resource cost per place of a young offender institution in 2007-08 (the latest year for which figures are available) was:

The direct resource expenditure met locally at each establishment is as reported in the Annual Report and Accounts of HMPS 2007-08. Resource expenditure met centrally by HMPS and NOMS includes for example: national and regional management and administration, major maintenance, depreciation and cost of capital of land and buildings, and prisoner escort service. This involves some estimation. Income from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) in respect of services recharged to the YJB is excluded in order to show the overall cost to the Ministry of Justice, as is any spend by other Government Departments (e.g. for health and education). Capital expenditure is not included.

Youth Custody

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 6 July 2009, Official Report, column 622W, on youth custody, if he will issue guidance on the time of day by which juvenile offenders should be delivered to places of detention. [286420]

Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply.

The Youth Justice Board is working with the National Offender Management Service, which manages the contracts for escorts to young offender institutions, on measures to ensure that young people under 18 who are sent to young offender institutions arrive at a reasonable hour.


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Escort arrangements for young people sent to secure training centres and secure children's homes are managed by the Youth Justice Board. At the conclusion of court business, service providers are contractually required to take the young person direct to the establishment, which minimises the risk of a late arrival.

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