§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will increase the level of support for the probation service in its provision for 16-year-old offenders: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MellorAs my right hon. and learned Friend explained in reply to a question by the hon. Member on 19 January — [Vol. 52, c. 286]—the planned financial provision for the probation service in 1984–85 takes account of projected increases in work load, including work resulting from the introduction of community service for 16-year-old offenders. We expect that, by 1 March 1984, three quarters of the 56 area probation services will have made the necessary arrangements.
§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide figures giving the number of offenders aged between 10 and 16 years who were charged with indictable offences in each police force area in each of the past five years.
§ Mr. MellorThe available information is given in the following table. Information for 1983 is not yet available.
630W
Persons aged 10 and under 17 proceeded against for indictable offences in magistrates courts by police force area
England and Wales Number of persons Police force area 1979 1980 1981 1982 Avon and Somerset 1,884 2,251 2,071 1,937 Bedfordshire 1,001 960 1,092 892 Cambridgeshire 931 1,139 1,102 1,017 Cheshire 1,763 2,015 1,792 1,769 Cleveland 1,680 1,881 1,868 1,915 Cumbria 960 969 812 893 Derbyshire 1,401 1,427 1,516 1,329 Devon and Cornwall 1,324 1,290 1,235 1,191 Dorset 519 635 811 840 Durham 1,248 1,505 1,660 1,572 Essex 1,735 1,672 1,535 1,554 Gloucestershire 727 769 739 770 Greater Manchester 7,912 8,605 8,183 7,953 Hampshire 1,941 2,148 2,073 1,913 Hertfordshire 1,218 1,391 1,244 1,308 Humberside 2,560 2,439 2,443 2,290 Kent 1,677 1,752 1,790 1,543 Lancashire 2,747 3,160 2,770 2,498 Leicestershire 1,215 1,392 1,488 1,418 Lincolnshire 749 894 773 796 London, City of 56 59 39 24 Merseyside 4,865 4,834 4,601 4,525 Metropolitan Police 11,858 14,344 13,638 12,580 Norfolk 774 791 819 697 Northamptonshire 1,176 1,293 1,187 834 Northumbria 3,163 3,306 3,251 3,311 North Yorkshire 1,011 1,121 962 936 Nottinghamshire 1,925 2,268 2,105 1,844 South Yorkshire 3,269 3,240 3,201 2,952 Staffordshire 1,487 1,743 1,694 1,715 Suffolk 647 930 895 707 Surrey 688 771 539 517 Sussex 1,623 1,821 1,649 1,555 Thames Valley 2,413 2,505 2,403 2,217 Warwickshire 582 699 653 776 West Mercia 1,164 1,348 1,164 1,250 West Midlands 4,888 5,714 6,070 5,861 West Yorkshire 5,163 1,687 5,547 5,867 Wiltshire 648 779 860 771 Dyfed-Powys 293 379 460 424 Gwent 1,269 1,566 1,426 1,293 North Wales 1,009 1,037 967 1,034 South Wales 3,305 3,553 3,579 3,081 England and Wales 88,468 98,082 94,706 90,169