§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were prosecuted for harassment between September 1998 and May 1999; and if he will make a statement on the working of the Protection from Harassment Act 1996. [94389]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe available data from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, covering the period from September 1998 to March 1999 inclusive, are given in the table. Provisional data for the second quarter of this year will not be available until December.
A research project to assess the use and effectiveness of the Protection from Harassment Act 1996 is in progress. A report is expected to be published at the beginning of next year.
Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts for offences under s2 and s4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, England and Wales, September 1998 to March 19991 Offence September 1998 to March 1999 Section 2—Offence of harassment (summary) 2,918 Section 4—Putting people in fear of violence 888 1All data are provisional