§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unacceptable absences are allowed before an offender on community supervision becomes the subject of breach proceedings. [84889]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe current National Standards for the Supervision of Offenders in the Community require breach proceedings to be taken on, or before, a third unacceptable absence. The Government are keen to improve the enforcement of community penalties and are at present reviewing the National Standards with a view to introducing revised Standards next April.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were on the Probation Service's community supervision case load for (i) 1996, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 1998; and what the probation budget was for England and Wales for each of those years. [84888]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe case load figures are given in the table. The budget figures are shown in the Government's Expenditure Plans 1999–2000 to 2001–02 for the Home Office and Charity Commission (Volume Two).
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Persons supervised by the probation service England and Wales 31 December Number of persons (thousand) All persons supervised1 1996 171 1997 185 19982 191 1 Includes those supervised under criminal court orders, those supervised pre and post-release from custody, and those under Family Court supervision. 2Estimated figure at 30 September 1998.