HC Deb 02 February 1993 vol 218 c120W
Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the full results of his Department's recent survey of police forces, designed to identify the number of persistent juvenile offenders;

(2) how many persistent juvenile offenders were identified by his Department's recent survey request to police forces for details of juveniles known or alleged to have committed 10 or more offences between 1 April and 30 June 1992;

(3) if he will place in the Library full results of the recent survey of social services departments, designed to identify the number of persistent offenders;

(4) how many persistent juvenile offenders were identified by the recent request to social services departments for details of juveniles known or alleged to have committed 10 or more offences between 1 April and 30 June 1992.

Mr. Jack

I intend to place a full report of the results of the survey in the Library as soon as it has been completed. The report will show that the survey, in which all police forces and local authority social service departments in England and Wales were invited to take part, was intended to improve our knowledge and understanding of the extent and nature of the problem of persistent juvenile offending. For this purpose, respondents were invited to provide information about juveniles who were known or believed to have committed ten or more offences in the period between 1 April and 30 June 1992.

Although the results of the survey have improved the level of our knowledge and understanding of the problem, not all respondents (including two of the largest police forces) held their information in a way which allowed them to produce precise numerical data. It is, therefore, evident that the total figure of 106 juveniles identified by this exercise considerably underestimates the extent of the problem.