HC Deb 26 April 2001 vol 367 cc392-4W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his baseline for his Department's PSA target of reducing by 5 per cent. the percentage of young people who offend. [159018]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The Home Office has a Public Service Agreement (PSA) target of reducing the rate of reconvictions of all young offenders by 5 per cent. by 2004 compared to the predicted rate.

The baseline is derived from Police National Computer data on offenders aged 10 to 17 cautioned or convicted in the first half of 1997. The one-year reconviction rate for this period is 33.7 per cent. The target requires that the number of reconvictions be reduced by 5 per cent. by 2004, compared to a predicted rate which incorporates the baseline data as well as other factors. If there were no other factors, the target would require a rate of 32 per cent.

The predicted rate will, however, make allowance for the following:

  1. (a) Any changes in the age, sex, offence and previous criminal history profile of sentenced or cautioned offenders. These factors are known to be associated with the risk of reoffending;
  2. (b) External factors associated with other PSA targets, which impact on reconviction, but not on the underlying rate of reoffending, where methodology allows. This is likely to focus on reduced delays in achieving a conviction (PSA target 8) and the increased proportion of recorded crimes where the offender is brought to justice (PSA target 6);
  3. (c) Subsequent convictions for offences committed prior to the offender commencing the period under study.

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases involving persistent young offenders have come before the courts in(a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000 and (e) 2001 to date; and how many have come before the courts in the financial years (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99, (iii) 1999–2000 and (iv) 2000–01. [158938]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Information is not held centrally in the exact form requested. The following figures relate to persistent young offenders, as defined for the purpose of measuring and monitoring the Government's pledge to halve the time between arrest and sentence from 142 days in 1996. The table shows the number of persistent young offenders who were sentenced (rather than attended a court) in England and Wales during the years requested. A figure for 2000–01 cannot be given, as data for the first quarter of 2001 are not yet available.

Year Number of cases
1997 16,010
1998 18,605
1999 21,151
2000 23,131
1997–98 16,840
1998–99 19,131
1999–2000 22,126
2000–01 n/a

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases a final warning has been given to a young offender; in what proportion of such cases the final warning has been followed by an intervention; and if he will make a statement. [159007]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, reprimands and final warnings replaced cautions for young offenders (those aged 10–17). They were introduced in seven pilot areas from the end of September 1998 until 1 June 2000, when both reprimands and final warnings became available nationwide.

The table shows, for each quarter, the number of final warnings issued. Those recorded during the final quarter of 1998 were collected as part of the pilot. Data for 1999 and 2000 are as recorded on the Home Office Court Proceedings and Cautions Database. Data for 2000 are provisional, that for the last quarter not yet available.

Number of persons aged 10–17 given final warnings in England and Wales
Number
1998
4th quarter 1580
1999
1st quarter 1450
2nd quarter 1640
3rd quarter 1490
4th quarter 1470
2000
1st quarter 1970
2nd quarter 22,760
3rd quarter 26,620
Total 12,970
1 Seven pilots areas only
2 Nationwide from 1 June

Data received from Youth Offending Teams show that 55 per cent. of final warnings were followed by an intervention during the period June 2000 to December 2000 (48 per cent. in the quarter June to September and 63 per cent. in the quarter October to December).

Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each police force area, the average number of days from arrest to sentence in cases involving persistent young offenders at the most recent date for which figures are available. [158936]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The latest available figures for the time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders for each police force area are for the year 2000. These figures were published in the Lord Chancellor's Department Statistical Bulletin 3/2001 on 23 March 2001. A copy of this bulletin will be placed in the Library.