§ Mr. GryllsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the criminals failing to complete their community service orders are returned to court for re-sentencing.
§ Mr. John Patten[holding answer 19 February 1990]: The available information is published in "Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1988" (table 7.28), a copy of which can be found in the Library. The information relates to the proportion of offenders sentenced to community service orders who breached that order. "Breach" means either the failure to comply with the requirements of the order, or the commission of a further offence. The court may either allow the order to remain in force, or revoke the order and resentence for the original offence.