§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to extend the age range covered by child curfew orders; [129243]
(2) what guidance he has issued regarding child curfew orders; [129239]
(3) how many (a) child curfew orders and (b) antisocial behaviour orders have been granted; and if he will break down the number granted in each (i)local authority and (ii) parliamentary constituency. [129265]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Government issued detailed guidance to local authorities and the police in September 1998 on the provisions for local child curfew schemes under sections 14 and 15 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. A copy is in the Library. No applications have yet 537W been received from local authorities to establish such a scheme. Following consultation with local authorities and the police, the Government are considering what improvements might be made to the provisions, including extending the age range, to ensure that they are able to contribute effectively to local partnership efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Information on the number of anti-social behaviour orders granted by the courts is being collected centrally with effect from 1 June 2000. Following a trawl of police forces we are aware that at least 80 such orders were made between 1 April 1999 and 31 May 2000, the latest date for which figures are available. We know that anti-social behaviour orders have been granted in the following police force areas, although the list is not exhaustive:
- Avon and Somerset;
- Thames Valley;
- Cambridgeshire;
- West Mercia;
- Cleveland;
- West Midlands;
- Cumbria;
- West Yorkshire;
- Derbyshire;
- Devon and Cornwall;
- Greater Manchester;
- Hampshire;
- Hertfordshire;
- Lancashire;
- Leicestershire;
- Metropolitan;
- Merseyside;
538W - Norfolk;
- North Yorkshire;
- Northumbria;
- Nottinghamshire;
- South Yorkshire;
- Suffolk; and
- Sussex.