§ Sir Michael McNair-WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted rapists rape again stated as a percentage of the total held in prison at any one time; and what measures other than imprisonment are used in rehabilitation.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe information is not available in the form requested. Recent studies suggest that less than 5 per cent. of men imprisoned for sexual offences are convicted again of a sexual offence within two years of their release. It would be exceptional for an offender convicted of rape not to receive a custodial sentence or disposal under mental health legislation.
§ Sir Michael McNair-WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of reported cases of rape for the years from 1984 to 1990 and the number of cases in which an arrest and conviction followed.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe numbers of offences of rape recorded by the police from 1984 to 1988 are published in table 2.9 of "Criminal statistics, England and Wales,934W 1988", Cm 847; for 1989 the information is published in table 6 of Home Office statistical bulletin 10/90; in the first six months of 1990, the police recorded 1,558 rapes. The number of persons found guilty of rape is published annually, and most recently in table S4.1(A) of "Criminal statistics, England and Wales, Supplementary tables, 1988 Vol. 4". Corresponding information for 1989 and 1990 is not yet available. A detailed analysis of offences of rape was published in Home Office statistical bulletin 4/89, "Statistics of offences of rape 1977–87".