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4 Nov 2009 : Column 1022W—continued

Offences Against Children: Prosecutions

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 25 May 2009, Official Report, column 1145W, on offences against children: convictions, how many people were prosecuted for sexual offences against persons under the age of 18 years in 2008; and how many such prosecutions resulted in a conviction. [295713]

Claire Ward: Data for 2008 are planned for publication at the end of January 2010.

The Ministry of Justice had pre-announced, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, that the following publications would be released in November 2009:

Since announcing these dates, data quality issues were encountered. To allow sufficient time to resolve these issues all three publications were delayed until
4 Nov 2009 : Column 1023W
January 2010. An update on the delay of these statistical publications was released on the Ministry of Justice website on 9 October:

Office of the Public Guardian

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to move the premises of the Office of the Public Guardian from Archway Tower; and if he will make a statement. [297157]

Bridget Prentice: As part of its programme of change and improvement, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has over the past 12 months taken a phased approach to moving functions out of London. In doing so it has sought to capitalise on existing Ministry of Justice buildings and staff where possible.

The first office outside London opened in Birmingham in the spring of this year. A second office, in Nottingham, has recently commenced operation and functions will continue to migrate there over the next four months.

No further decisions as to timing and location of future moves have been taken. OPG aims to have reduced its presence in London to a necessary minimum over the next two to three years.

The OPG engages actively with staff and trade unions regarding its change plans. Appropriate impact assessments are made. Staff impact is managed in line with the Ministry of Justice Managing Organisational Change Framework.

Prisoners Release

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many people were released on (a) temporary release licence, (b) home detention curfew, (c) early release and (d) juvenile temporary release in each of the last three years; [296766]

(2) how many people were released from prison on (a) resettlement day release, (b) resettlement overnight release, (c) placements with community service volunteers, (d) placements with the Prince's Trust, (e) childcare resettlement leave, (f) special purpose licence, (g) compassionate and (h) marriage of the offender in 2008. [296769]

Maria Eagle: Figures on the number of releases from prison establishments on temporary licence (ROTL) and Home Detention Curfew (HDC) are published annually in Offender Management Caseload Statistics. Copies are in the House of Commons Libraries and on the MoJ website:

Data on the categories of ROTL are not recorded precisely in the form specified in the question. Prisoners may be released on temporary licence on more than one occasion. The statistics relate to the number of licences granted rather than the number of prisoners released. The recorded categories are shown in the following table.


4 Nov 2009 : Column 1024W

2006 2007 2008

All licences

400,238

441,167

439,294

Special Purpose

10,396

11,127

12,862

Carer

940

1,603

1,999

Deaths

304

289

305

Family needs

467

409

337

Legal

641

581

608

Medical

8,044

8,245

9,613

Resettlement Day Release

385,532

422,813

414,512

Accommodation

217

282

241

Family ties

18,146

21,666

22,350

Religious Service

2,718

2,567

3,443

Training and education

59,251

63,953

59,540

Working out

250,971

278,406

272,338

Other resettlement

54,229

55,939

56,600

Childcare Resettlement

497

313

320

Resettlement Overnight Release

3,813

6,914

11,599

Note:
The total for 2008 includes one uncategorised ROTL

The number of licences for under 18s released on ROTL from prison, which is a subset of the totals from the table, in 2006 was 1,180, in 2007 was 805 and in 2008 was l,499.

The number of releases on HDC, one form of early release, are shown in the following table.

Number released on HDC

2006

13,666

2007

11,428

2008

11,721


Figures on the number of releases on End of Custody Licence (ECL), another form of early release, are published monthly on the MoJ website:

ECL was introduced on the 29 of June 2007. Between the start of the scheme and 31 December 2007, 16,197 prisoners were released on ECL. In 2008, 31,318 prisoners were released. Between 1 January and 30 September 2009, 22,362 prisoners were released on ECL.

All these figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Secure Accommodation: Young Offender Institutions

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost of placing remanded children in secure training centres was in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what proportion of that cost was met by the Youth Justice Board. [296964]


4 Nov 2009 : Column 1025W

Maria Eagle: The Youth Justice Board calculates annual figures for the cost of places in the under-18 secure estate. As at 1 April 2009, the average cost of placing a young person remanded to custody in a secure training centre was £209,000 per annum (excluding VAT). The Youth Justice Board contributes two thirds of the cost and the young person's home local authority contributes the remaining third plus an administrative fee.

The average cost of placing a remanded young person in a secure training centre is higher than for sentenced young people due to a differential in the economic cost of delivering the two regimes. The additional cost also reflects the fact that remanded young people have to be accommodated separately from sentenced trainees.

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Youth Justice Board pays per person for a place in (a) a secure training centre, (b) a young offenders institution and (c) a local authority secure children's home. [296967]

Maria Eagle: The Youth Justice Board calculates annual figures for the cost of places in the three types of establishment in the under-18 secure estate. As at 1 April 2009, these were as follows:


4 Nov 2009 : Column 1026W

Average annual cost per place (£000)

Secure children's home

215

Secure training centre

160

Young offender institution

60

Note:
These figures are the average costs per place and include places for both remanded and sentenced young people. VAT is not included within these figures.

Young Offenders

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many 10 to 12 year-olds were convicted of each category of criminal offence in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [296961]

Claire Ward: Information showing the number of 10 to 12-year-olds found guilty at all courts in England and Wales from 1997 to 2007 (latest available), broken down by offence type, can be viewed in the following table.

Data for 2008 are planned for publication at the end of January 2010.

Number of defendants aged 10 to 12 found guilty at all courts for all offences, broken down by offence type, England and Wales, 1997 to 2007( 1, 2)
Offence type 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Violence against the person

73

96

114

130

151

177

174

160

168

156

142

Sexual offences

16

11

20

10

21

27

10

22

23

20

26

Burglary

240

314

356

313

321

336

264

279

283

233

217

Robbery

68

64

78

78

129

113

118

134

89

97

141

Theft and handling stolen goods

562

840

951

936

914

767

719

715

685

623

710

Fraud and forgery

2

3

16

13

8

17

4

10

12

8

11

Criminal damage

101

137

218

202

231

234

218

212

230

192

226

Drug offences

2

6

12

12

33

26

32

31

29

23

22

Other indictable offences

39

47

70

79

72

79

77

68

65

67

59

Indictable motoring offences

3

1

7

4

5

6

4

3

1

0

3

Summary offences (excluding motoring)

384

598

881

1,051

1,129

1,048

1,092

1,173

1,256

1,237

1,237

Summary motoring offences

36

52

61

47

72

56

74

67

54

62

63

All offences

1,526

2,169

2,784

2,875

3,086

2,886

2,786

2,874

2,895

2,718

2,857

(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.
Source:
Evidence and Analysis Unit-Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

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