§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were sent to prison in each of the last three years for cruelty to children.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information is not all available in the form requested. The number of persons given immediate custody for offences of cruelty to or neglect of children under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", supplementary tables 1.1(a) and 2.1(a). The number of offences of homicide where the victims were children is published in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", Cm. 498, tables 4.6, 4.12 and 4.13. Copies of these publications are in the Library of the House. The number of persons sentenced for other offences of violence against children is not available separately.