HC Deb 22 February 1978 vol 944 cc642-4W
Mr. Nelson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will list against all probation areas the number of community service orders made in the last 12 months for which figures are available, and the average number of hours worked per week on such orders in each area.

Mr. John

Returns made by the Probation Service for the period 1st April 1976 to 31st March 1977, the latest 12 months for which figures are available, show the number of persons given community service orders—some of whom had more than one orderߞas follows:

Avon 296
Bedfordshire 93
Berkshirre 130
Buckinghamshire 135
Cambridgeshire 71
Cheshire 352
Cleveland 322
Cumbria 100
Derbyshire 42
Devon 177
Dorset 167
Durham 145
Essex 330
Gloucestershire 92
Hampshire 112
Hertford and Worcester 90
Hertfordshire 72
Humberside 114
Kent 550
Lancashire 118
Leicestershire 152
Lincolnshire 143
Inner London 828
North-East London 216
South-East London 163
South-West London 144
Middlesex 416
Greater Manchester 243
Merseyside 730
Norfolk 50
Northamptonshire 139
Northumbria 220
Nottinghamshire 492
Oxfordshire 112
Salop 130
Somerset 158
Staffordshire 263
Suffolk 81
Surrey 128
East Sussex 82
West Sussex 72
Warwickshire 72
West Midlands 104
Wiltshire 101
North Yorkshire 79
South Yorkshire 399
West Yorkshire 411
Gwent 65
North Wales 99
Powys 2
South Glamorgan 217
Mid Glamorgan 83
West Glamorgan 100

Three areas, Cornwall, Dyfed and the City of London, did not have community service arrangements in the period.

The other information requested is not available.

Mr. Nelson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community service orders were made in the last 12 months for which figures are available and in each of the previous five years; and, of these, how many were made in magistrates' courts and in Crown courts, respectively.

Mr. John

The latest available figures are for 1976 and are given in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1976", page 58. Figures for previous years are given in previous issues of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales"—for 1975 on page 42, for 1974 on pages 72 and 164 and for 1973 on pages 64 and 146.

Mr. Nelson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were dealt with for failing to comply with the terms of community service orders in the last 12 months for which figures are available and in each of the previous five years; and, of these, how many had failed to comply by committing a fresh offence.

Mr. John

The available information is as follows. Returns made by the Probation Service indicate that 638 community service orders were revoked under Section 16 of the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973 for breach of requirements in the period 1st April 1976 to 31st March 1977 and 153 in the previous 12 months. In addition, 433 orders were revoked under Section 17 of the Act in the period 1st April 1976 to 31st March 1977 following the imposition of a custodial sentence for a further offence, and 208 in the previous 12 months.

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