§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the average number of convicted paedophiles released in each of the last three years, by category of conviction; and what proportion of each category have received treatment(a) prior to and (b) after release. [11711]
§ Mr. MacleanFrom information available centrally on the release and treatment of sex offenders, separate estimates of paedophiles cannot be made with any accuracy.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions have been obtained in each of the last 10 years for(a) enticing children into prostitution and (b) living off the earnings of child prostitution. [11779]
596W
§ Mr. MacleanCourt proceedings data collected centrally on the number of offenders convicted of living on immoral earnings do not identify the age of the prostitute.
Available information on the number of convictions for enticing children into prostitution is given in the table:
Number of persons convicted at all courts for an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 section 281 1985–1995 England and Wales Convictions 1985 — 1986 3 1987 3 1988 1 1989 1 1990 2 1991 2 1992 — 1993 1 1994 — 1995 3
§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of convictions for paedophile offenders have related to offenders with previous convictions in the last three years. [11712]
§ Mr. MacleanEstimates are available centrally from samples of offenders1,2convicted in 1994 and 1996. These are given in the table. However, estimates for these two years are not directly comparable1,3. In particular, improvements in offence recording since 1994 have made it possible to include offenders convicted of rape or buggery with a child victim in the 1996 estimates, whereas these are excluded from the 1994 figures.
Percentage of offenders convicted of a sexual offence with a child victim who had a previous conviction, by type of previous conviction and year Type of previous conviction Percentage of offenders1,2convicted of a sexual offence with a child victim in: 1994 1996 All offences2 54 52 Any sexual offence 15 18 Sexual offence with a child victim3 10 12 Notes: 1 Figures are based on a sample, from the Home Office offenders index, of those sentenced in each year. For 1994, the sample comprised the court disposals in three weeks. In 1996, two weeks were selected. 2 Convictions prior to the setting up of the offenders index in 1963 are not included, but only a small number of offenders with convictions in 1994 or later are likely to have a last previous relevant conviction in 1962 or earlier. The offences covered by the offenders index are those on the "standard list". This includes all indictable offences, including those triable either way, and some more serious summary offences. 3 Prior to 1995, statistics supplied to the Home Office for the offences of rape and buggery did not generally indicate the age of the victim. Since 1995, this has been the case for a more limited range of offences.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police authorities in England and Wales have specific units dealing with(a) child pornography and (b) child prostitution. [11778]
597W
§ Mr. MacleanThis specific information is not held centrally. Forty two police forces in England and Wales have units dedicated to work on child/family protection. Many forces also have specialised units to deal with all forms of pornography and prostitution. All forces have officers specifically trained to deal with all these issues. The allocation of staff and resources for tackling child pornography and child prostitution is an operational matter for each chief officer.
§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's latest evaluation of the success of treatment programmes for convicted paedophiles(a) in prison, (b) in residential treatment centres and (c) in day centre treatment centres. [11702]
§ Mr. MacleanThe Prison Service has commissioned an evaluation of sex offender treatment programmes delivered in prison. The findings are due to be reported in June this year.
Number of persons prosecuted at magistrates courts and convicted' at all courts for offences of living on immoral earnings by type of offence 1985–95 England and Wales 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Living on earnings of prostitution or exercising control over prostitute (Sexual Offences Act 1956 Sections 30 and 31) Prosecutions 124 99 84 110 117 93 106 110 72 98 67 Convictions1 122 105 83 83 118 76 79 70 49 70 51 Man or woman living wholly or in part on the earnings of male prostitution (Sexual Offences Act 1967 Section 5(1)) Prosecutions 9 2 4 4 1 1 1 — 1 1 4 Convictions 6 9 4 7 3 2 — — 1 — 1 1 Will include persons proceeded against in earlier years or for a different principal offence when committed for trial by a magistrates court.