§ Mr. Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the number of prosecutions 278W for acts of vandalism, the average cost of each case, the average fine imposed and the average cost of the offending damage for the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. MayhewThe number of persons proceeded against for criminal or malicious damage is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" under offence classification numbers 56–59 and 149—table S1.1(A) of the "Supplementary tables, Vol. 1"for 1981. Information on the costs of court cases is not collected centrally, but the average fine imposed in 1981 for offences of criminal or malicious damage is estimated to have been about £40. Comprehensive information is not collected centrally on the value of property damage, but almost half of the offences of criminal damage recorded by the police in 1981 involved property valued at £20 or under.