HC Deb 07 May 1985 vol 78 cc370-1W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what proportion of offenders (a) under 17 and (b) under 16 years who have committed indictable offences in each of the last 10 years have been (i) sentenced by courts, (ii) dealt with by children's hearings, (iii) received official warnings from the police or (iv) been otherwise dealt with, respectively;

(2) what proportion of the total number of offenders aged (a) under 17 and (b) under 16 years who have been dealt with by courts and children's hearings for indictable offences in each of the last 10 years have received custodial sentences and supervision with a residential condition, respectively.

Mr. John MacKay

Information for the last 10 years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Figures for the most recent five-year period are given in the

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983
1. Children aged 16
(i) sentenced by courts 8,487 9,819 9,268 8,388 8,710
(ii) referred to reporter to children's hearings* Not available
(iii) official warnings from police† 115 86 450 1,156 583
(iv) dealt with otherwise than as in (i)-(iii) NIL
(v) received custodial sentences 416 459 437 489 596
(vi) placed on supervision with a residential requirement Not available Not available 9 3 4
2. Children under 16
(i) sentenced by courts 866 938 811 618 635
(ii) referred to reporter to children's hearings* 20,873 22,303 23,912 22,747 23,291
(iii) official warnings from police† 7,940 7,450 6,817 6,675 8,235
(iv) dealt with otherwise than as in (i)-(iii) NIL
(v) received custodial sentences 105 99 77 88 107
(vi) placed on supervision with a residential requirement Not available 907 911 872 937

Notes:

* Item 2(ii) includes children aged 16, for whom detailed figures are not readily available; they are estimated to account for some 1 per cent. of the total. Reporters dealt with the following numbers under their discretionary powers without reference to hearings.

1979—9,297

1980—9,738

1981—11,006

1982—10,892

1983—11,609

† These figures are affected by variations in recording practices. Consideration is being given to this problem.