§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give details of his plans to limit repeat cautioning; what rules will apply; what type of offences will be affected; and what criteria will govern decisions by the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to prosecution or caution;
(2) what is his timetable for implementing his proposal on repeat cautioning and cautioning for indictable offences; and what is his estimate of the cost in this financial year and in 1994–95.
§ Mr. MacleanI intend to publish supplementary guidance to the police later this month and to allow interested parties two months in which to comment on it. I shall send a copy of the draft guidance to the hon. Member.
The guidance will leave the police with their existing discretion on whether to caution or prosecute, but it will strongly discourage, save in exceptional circumstances, the use of cautions for the most serious offences or for offenders who have been cautioned previously. In cases of doubt, it will continue to be open to the police to seek advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, whose decision whether prosecution is warranted will be governed by the code for Crown prosecutors.
It is too soon to offer a reliable estimate of the cost implications of these changes.