§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 24 November 1999,Official Report, column 119W, on Operation Care, as a result of the police investigations into child abuse, how many people who were convicted pleaded not guilty; how many (a) suspects and (b) offenders there were; how many separate complaints of child abuse were received; how many people were acquitted after trial; how many people were arrested but had no further action taken against them; how many persons have been charged and are awaiting trial and how 168W long they have been waiting; how many persons are on police bail; with respect to each investigation how many victims have applied for compensation; how much each individual has received; and how many victims have not applied for compensation. [121698]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeI understand that Operation Care is a continuing investigation, and the information which follows is accurate as of 11 May.
Four people convicted on charges arising from Operation Care had pleaded not guilty. 407 persons were classified as offenders or suspects. The number of separate complaints relevant to this operation is not readily available, but is at least 759. Four people were acquitted after trial; 12 people were arrested but had no further action taken against them; 17 people have been charged and are awaiting trial. Of these latter, four have been awaiting trial for up to one year, a further seven for up to 18 months, a further three for up to two years, and a further three for up to 31 months. (Delays in trial are sometimes due to defence requests.) Twelve people are on police bail. 108 people have applied for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and 32 people have received awards as shown in the table. The precise number of complainants who have not applied for compensation is not known.
Amounts paid in compensation Number of people £500 2 £1,000 5 £2,000 7 £2,500 1 £3,000 7 £5,000 1 £6,000 2 £6,300 1 £7,500 3 £10,000 1 £10,750 1 £20,000 1
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 24 November 1999,Official Report, column 119W, on Operation Care, if he will list the forces that (a) have carried out and (b) are carrying out investigations into institutional child abuse; what is the name of each investigation and its terms of reference; when each investigation (i) commenced and (ii) ended; which are continuing; what period of time is covered by each investigation; how many people have been (A) charged, (B) arrested and (C) convicted and sentenced; and how many people who have been convicted and sentenced have appealed. [121697]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeInformation is not collected on the number of investigations into institutional child abuse or on the numbers of people arrested, charged or convicted as a result. But a survey was carried out last year on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers Crime Committee to establish how many forces in England and Wales had been or were currently investigating claims of institutional child abuse. During the period covered by the questionnaire (1 January 1998 to 30 June 1999), 32 forces said they had been, or were, currently investigating such allegations. Many of the remaining forces stated that they had been engaged in such inquiries at other times.