§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 708, on how many occasions since the publication of Home Office circular 18/1994, the police have sought the opinion of the Crown Prosecution Service as to whether a prosecution should be brought or a caution given in a particular case; [13429]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 30 January, Official Report, column 708, on how many occasions each year the views of victims have been sought, in accordance with the guidance given at paragraph 7 of circular 18/1994, prior to or in contemplation of, the police issuing a caution to the perpetrator of an offence instead of initiating a prosecution. [13428]
§ Mr. MacleanThe information requested is not collected.
112W
§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 708, how many times a caution was administered in respect of a most serious offence triable only on indictment in each year since 1992. [13433]
§ Mr. MacleanThe information is given in the table.
Number of persons cautioned for indictable only (excluding triable either way) offences in the Metropolitan Police Area and England and Wales, 1992–1994. Area 1992 1993 1994 Metropolitan Polices 186 236 222 England and Wales 1,735 1,599 1,542
§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 708, what monitoring has been given to the correctness of issuing cautions for less grave offences, in accordance with paragraph 6 of circular 18/1994, since the publication of that circular; and if he will make a statement. [13430]
§ Mr. MacleanThere are no national arrangements for monitoring decisions to administer a caution, but in the course of examining forces' cautioning policy Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary looks, where appropriate, at sampled cases in order to determine whether the policy is being observed. Moreover, a number of forces have established monitoring arrangements on a local basis.
§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 708, how many times cautions have been given for crimes of (a) attempted murder and (b) rape, since the publication of circular 18/1994. [13432]
§ Mr. MacleanThe information is given in the table.
Number of persons cautioned for (a) attempted murder and (b) rape following the publication of the Home Office Circular 18/19941 in England and Wales 1994 Offence 1994 January-March 1994 April-December Total 1994 Attempted murder — 1 1 Rape 9 10 19 Man having unlawful intercourse with a woman who is a defective 2 3 5 Substantive rape 7 6 13 Attempted rape — 1 1 1 The Home Office Circular 18/1994 'The Cautioning of Offenders' was issued on 15 March 1994. Cautioning data held centrally only identify the month of the caution, not the date.
§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 708, (1) what action has been taken since the publication of Home Office circular 18/1994 to reduce the inconsistency between police forces about circumstances in which they consider it appropriate to administer a caution, that is referred to at paragraph 4 of that circular; [13424]
(2) what action has been taken since the publication of Home Office circular 18/1994 to minimise the differing 113W perceptions between police forces as to the boundary between (a) informal warnings and formal cautions and (b) formal cautions and prosecutions; and if he will make a statement. [13427]
§ Mr. MacleanImproving consistency between police forces in their disposal of cases was one of the main purposes of the circular. In March 1995, the Association of Chief Police Officers issued guidelines as to the weight which it was suggested should be attached to a range of offences. The guidance has been adopted by a substantial number of forces. It is too early to determine how far it has helped to improve consistency of decision making.
§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 708, to what extent all cautions are accurately recorded in accordance with paragraph 11 of Home Office circular 18/1994. [13426]
§ Mr. MacleanUp to 1 November 1995 records of caution were generally kept only by the force that issued them. Since that date, records of all cautions for reportable offences have been entered by forces on to the Phoenix database of the police national computer.
§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 30 January,Official Report, column 708, what monitoring of results in accordance with paragraph 4 of circular 18/1994 has been given to caution plus schemes. [13425]
§ Mr. MacleanMost of the 24 forces which operate some form of caution plus scheme have established monitoring arrangements. The results are being evaluated as part of a research study which is now in progress.