§ Sir Peter LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence he has assessed on the effect of mandatory prison sentences for burglary on the incidence of burglary. [157761]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeIt is, as yet, too soon to evaluate the impact of section 111 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (previously section 4 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997), which introduced mandatory minimum sentences for repeat burglars. The effects of the provisions, which were brought into force in December 1999, will take some time to be felt because section 111 applies only when all three offences are committed after implementation and one of the two previous offences is committed after the offender has been convicted of the other.
An evaluation is, however, planned and will take place in two main stages. The first stage will take place in 2003–04 and will be an evaluation of the costs and benefits of the measure across the criminal justice system, including changes in the incidence of burglary. By then, there should be enough evidence to form a more soundly based view of its effects.
The final evaluation is planned for 2010 when the full effects should have worked their way through.
§ Sir Peter LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mandatory sentences for burglary have been passed each year since such sentences were first introduced; what proportion of all sentences for138W burglary mandatory sentences represent in each of those years; and how many burglaries were reported to the police in each of those years. [157762]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeUnder the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 (as re-enacted by the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000) which came into effect on 1 December 1999, a mandatory prison sentence of three years' minimum duration was introduced for third-time domestic burglary offenders.
The Home Office's Court Proceedings Databases for 1999 and for 2000 (which are provisional) show that no such sentences have yet been recorded.
An offender would have to be apprehended, prosecuted and convicted on three separate occasions since 1 December 1999 to be subject to the mandatory sentence. Such action is likely to take some time to get to court.
There were 442,600 offences of domestic burglary recorded by the police in England and Wales in 1999–2000 and 16,800 persons were sentenced for this offence in 1999.