§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in each of the years since 1985, in England and Wales, what has been the annual rate of increase or decrease in(a) recorded sex offences, (b) the clear up rate for sex offences, (c) prosecutions for sex offences, (d) convictions for sex offences and (e) cautions for sex offences, in both (i) numerical and (ii) percentage terms; and what percentage of these increases or decreases in each of the categories (a) to (e) have involved consensual offences between men over the age of 16 years where both parties have freely participated in the acts concerned; and what categories of sex offences between men are included within these statistics.
§ Mr. John PattenA homosexual act in private is not an offence where the parties consent and have attained the age of 21 years. The tables below give information on consensual acts of buggery and attempted buggery of a male of, or over, 21 with another male under the age of 21 with consent (Sexual Offences Act 1956, section 12 as amended by the Sexual Offences Act 1967, section 3(1)).
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Offence Recorded offences Clear-up rate2 Cautions Prosecutions Convictions 1988–89 Sexual offences +12 0 -3 +4 +1 Consensual homosexual offences (aged 16+) 1— 1— 1— 3-53 3-26 1 Unavailable. 2 Percentage point change. 3 Percentages based upon less than 50 cases.