§ Mr. Charles Irvingasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to designate further police districts, in addition to those in Leeds and Manchester, as areas in which the police may divert habitual drunken offenders from the courts to treatment centres.
§ Mr. WhitelawNone at present: consideration will be given to the desirability of further designations in the light of research currently being undertaken in Leeds and Manchester.
§ Mr. Charles Irvingasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what 26W was the total number of persons convicted of public drunkenness offences—excluding offences connected with driving—for the years 1958, 1963, 1965, 1969, 1973 and 1978.
§ Mr. BrittanThe information is published annually in the "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" (table 1(a) of the volume for 1977, Cmnd. 7289). Information for 1978 is not yet available.
§ Mr. Charles Irvingasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of persons committed to prison in default of fines imposed by the courts for drunkenness offences during the year ended 31 December 1978.
§ Mr. BrittanThe information requested will be published shortly in "Prison Statistics: England and Wales 1978".