HC Deb 08 May 1996 vol 277 c168W
Mr. Michael

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of offenders are(a) convicted of further offences during the two-year period following the completion of a probation order and (b) convicted of further offences which were committed during the two-year period following the completion of a probation order; [27573]

(2) what percentage of offenders are (a) convicted of further offences during the two-year period following the completion of a community service order and (b) convicted of further offences which were committed during the two-year period following the completion of a community service order. [27608]

Mr. Maclean

[holding answer 7 May 1996]The most recent available information relates to samples of offenders who commenced orders in 1987. The percentage of offenders who were convicted of a further offence during the two-year period following the completion of a probation order was 44 per cent. and the corresponding percentage for community service was 47 per cent. These figures were first published in table 4.3 of the Home Office publication "Probation Statistics, England and Wales, 1994".

Completion of an order does not necessarily imply completion without reoffending and a proportion of those completing orders will be reconvicted on the date of termination. If the termination date is included in the two-year follow-up period, the reconviction rates for probation and community service are then 49 and 52 per cent. respectively.

Reconviction rates that are usually quoted relate to reconviction during the two-year period following commencement of orders. The most recent information relates to samples of offenders commencing orders in 1992. The percentage of offenders reconvicted within two years of commencement of a probation order was 58 per cent. and the corresponding percentage for community service was 55 per cent.

There is no information available centrally on the percentages convicted of further offences which were committed during the two-year period following the completion of orders.