§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested; what charges have been brought against them; what convictions have been obtained; and what penalties have been imposed under each of the public order provisions of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. [15426]
§ Mr. MacleanSeparate statistics on arrests by offence groups are not available centrally. Information on court proceedings data under the public order provisions of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 will not be available until autumn 1996.
§ Mr. JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the public order provisions of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. [15427]
§ Mr. MacleanSections 61 to 69 of the 1994 Act and sections 14A to 14C of the Public Order Act 1986, as amended by sections 70 and 71 of the 1994 Act, provide the police with powers to deal with trespassers on land, certain types of raves, disruptive trespassers and trespassory assemblies. Officials are closely monitoring the effectiveness of these measures. It is too early to reach firm conclusions about how the powers are working in practice, although I have received some favourable reports.
For the most part, offences under these sections are committed only where there is a failure to comply with a police direction to leave the land or where there is a failure to comply with a direction not to proceed to a rave 90W or a trespassory assembly. Statistics on court proceedings for offences under the relevant sections will not be available until autumn 1996.