HC Deb 30 April 1974 vol 872 cc446-9W
Mr. Magee

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children and young persons have been in borstals, in detention centres and on remand in prison establishments, respectively, since the implementation of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969; and what are the corresponding figures for a similar period before the implementation of that Act.

Dr. Summerskill

The following tables show the number of persons under 17 years of age received into prison service establishments in England and Wales during the three years preceding the

Males 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973†
Untried prisoners(1)(2) (section 23(2) C & YP Act 1969) 1,921 1,975
Convicted unsentenced prisoners(1)(2) 1,657* 1,958*
Received on sentence:
Detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure (section 53(1) C & YP Act 1933) 1 2 5 9 3 6
Detained for specified period (section 53(2) C & YP Act 1933) 5 4 6 3 18 13
Detention Centre 1,675 1,923 2,041 2,055 2,513 3,041
Borstal 647 720 881 970 1,073 1,158
Committed to await removal to Approved School(3) 267 264 320
Females 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973†
Untried prisoners(1)(2) (section 23(2) C & YP Act 1969) 119 91
Convicted unsentenced prisoners(1)(2) 63* 83*
Received on sentence:
Detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure (section53(1) C & YP Act 1933) 1 1
Detained for specified period (section 53(2) C & YP Act 1933) 1 1
Borstal 15 27 41 34 44 45
Committed to await removal to Approved School(3) 34 38 34

Notes:

(1) Figures for "Untried prisoners" and "Convicted unsentenced prisoners" are not available prior to 1971.

(2) Prior to 1972, persons remanded under Section 26 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 were included under "Untried prisoners". In 1972 such cases are included under "Convicted unsentenced prisoners".

(3) From 1st January 1971 care orders committing juveniles to the care of local authorities, replaced approved school orders. (Children and Young Persons Act 1969.)

*Including persons previously received into custody as "Untried prisoners"—

1971 1972
Male 786 872
Female 27 40
† The figures for persons received on sentence during 1973 are provisional: figures for "Untried prisoners" and "Convicted unsentenced prisoners" received into custody during 1973 are not yet available.

Mr. Magee

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of borstal and detention centre orders being made for children who before the implementation of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 would have been sent to approved schools or probation hostels.

Mr. Alexander W. Lyon

The Children and Young Persons Act 1969 replaced both the approved school order and the fit person order by the care order, and in 1971 the number of care orders made —7,499—was approximately equal to the combined total of approved school orders and fit person orders in the previous year implementation of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 and for a similar period following the implementation of the Act:

—5,741 and 1,716 respectively. I cannot estimate whether the courts might have dealt differently with any of those sentenced to detention centre or borstal training under the current legislation if the former approved school order had not been replaced.

Mr. Tinn

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is now able to list for each police force in England and Wales the number of persons aged 10 and under 17 years of age found guilty or cautioned by the police giving the percentage of the total formed by those cautioned.

Mr. Alexander W. Lyon

The information is as follows:—

NUMBER OF PERSONS AGED 10 AND UNDER 17 FOUND GUILTY* OR CAUTIONED* BY EACH POLICE FORCE IN ENGLAND AND WALES IN 1972 (SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE CAUTIONED)
Police District Found Guilty Cautioned Total Percentage Cautioned
England
Bedfordshire and Luton 1,155 1,166 2,321 50.2
Cheshire 3,504 2,112 5,616 37.6
Cumbria 888 730 1,618 45.1
Derby County and Borough 1,468 952 2,420 37.8
Devon and Cornwall 1,529 2,818 4,347 64.8
Dorset and Bournemouth 786 805 1,591 50.6
Durham 4,287 1,785 6,072 29.4
Essex and Southend-on-Sea 2,471 2,885 5,356 53.9
Gloucestershire 1,090 1,307 2,397 54.5
Bristol 771 451 1,222 36.9
Hampshire 2,800 2,298 5,098 45.1
Hertfordshire 1,504 1,056 2,560 41.3
Kent 2,608 1,298 3,906 33.2
Lancashire 9,352 7,407 16,759 44.2
Liverpool and Bootle 3,393 2,042 5,435 37.6
Manchester and Salford 4,620 1,111 5,731 19.4
Leicester and Rutland 1,850 1,254 3,095 40.2
Lincolnshire 1,872 2,479 4,351 57.0
London, City 106 68 174 39.1
Metropolitan Police District 14,554 10,211 24,765 41.2
Mid-Anglia 1,243 765 2,008 38.1
Norfolk 1,021 860 1,881 45.7
Northampton and County 1,262 507 1,769 28.7
Northumberland 2,603 2,213 4,816 46.0
Nottinghamshire combined 2,529 2,546 5,075 50.2
Somerset and Bath 1,160 985 2,145 45.9
Staffordshire County and Stoke-on-Trent 2,136 1,721 3,857 44.6
Suffolk 1,119 1,221 2,340 52.2
Surrey 869 1,082 1,951 55.5
Sussex 1,877 2,116 3,993 53.0
Thames Valley 2,840 2,369 5,209 45.5
Warwickshire and Coventry 2,238 1,069 3,307 32.3
Birmingham 2,647 2,161 4,808 44.9
West Mercia 1,962 1,274 3,236 39.4
West Midlands 2,139 1,777 3,916 45.4
Wiltshire 846 991 1,837 53.9
West Yorkshire 7,310 4,967 12,277 40.5
Bradford 1,124 1,025 2,149 47.7
Leeds 2,033 1,408 3,441 40.9
Sheffield and Rotherham 1,942 1,292 3,234 40.0
York and North East Yorkshire 1,649 1,093 2,742 39.9
Kingston-upon-Hull 1,914 390 2,304 16.9
Teesside 2,416 322 2,738 11.8
Wales
Dyfed-Powis 474 583 1,057 55.2
Gwent 1,645 619 2,264 27.3
Gwynedd 1,534 814 2,348 34.7
South Wales 4,347 1,703 6,050 28.1
Total—England and Wales 115,487 82,099 197,586 41.6
Figures relate to all offences: indictable and non-indictable (including motoring).