§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Solicitor-General how many of the cases referred to the CPS as part of Operation Care were(a) accepted and (b) refused; and what the main reasons for refusal were. [151613]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralOperation Care is an investigation into allegations of sexual and physical abuse of children in care in the Merseyside area from 1960 to the present day. Since April 1996, when Operation Care commenced, Merseyside police have submitted cases relating to 181 suspects to the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS prosecuted 59 suspects; 20 pleaded guilty, seven were convicted after trial, 10 were acquitted, four died before trial and 16 suspects sill await trial. Allegations against a further 21 suspects have been referred back to the police for further inquiries to be made. In addition, one person has been cautioned for a single sexual offence, which was unlikely to result in a sentence of imprisonment.
The CPS advised the police that a prosecution was not justified in the cases of the remaining 100 suspects. There was insufficient evidence against 90 of the suspects. The
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£ Nature of funding 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 (examples include): Revenue Support Grant1 126,825,635 128,711,991 122,542,693 Income from National Non-domestic Rates1 60,589,879 65,495,908 73,718,842 Highway Maintenance Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) 7,763,000 7,968,000 7,293,000 SSA Reduction Grant (SSA review) 7,498,940 0 0 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Support Grant 33,601,236 30,198,391 29,740,875 Housing Investment Programme (HIP) 8,249,000 8,484,000 20,832,000 circumstances of the remaining 10 suspects meant that the public interest test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors was not satisfied.