§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answers of 5 November,Official Report, column 434, and 12 November, Official Report, column 119, if he will set out the statistical difference between the number of offenders found guilty or cautioned and the number of offences ending in a conviction or caution. [4977]
§ Mr. MacleanThe number of offenders found guilty or cautioned is a count of the number of occasions on which a finding of guilt is made or a caution administered. On each occasion, an offender may be found guilty of, or cautioned for, more than one offence. For reasons of practicality and cost effectiveness, routine Home Office statistics are offender based and relate to the principal offence—generally the one attracting the highest penalty.