§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for State for the Home Department what information is available on the operation of sections 26 to 28 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 which extend the powers of the courts to order parents to pay fines, compensation or costs imposed on their children.
§ Mr. BrittanSections 26 to 28 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 came into effect on 31 January 1983 and398W extended the powers of the courts to order parents to pay fines, compensation or costs imposed upon their children found guilty of offences, and raised from £200 to £500 the maximum recognisance which a parent or guardian can be ordered to enter into to exercise proper care and control over his or her child. Preliminary information on court proceedings for indictable and summary offences other than motoring offences in 1983 suggests that parents were ordered to pay fines in respect of about 4,000 juvenile offenders as compared with about 500 in 1981 and 700 in 1982. It is estimated that parents were ordered to pay compensation in respect of about 4,500 such offences in 1983 as compared with about 850 in 1982 and about 900 in 1981. Very few orders to pay costs or to enter into recognisances appear to have been made in 1983, as in 1982 when fewer than 50 orders of each type were recorded.