§ Mr. Hilary BennTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the imprisonment rate was as a percentage of crimes committed for(a) the United Kingdom and (b) other European countries in the latest year for which information is available. [160971]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe latest available information on the attrition rate in England and Wales was published in December 1999 in "Digest 4: Information on the criminal justice system in England & Wales". This indicates that, for the offences of criminal damage, theft of a motor vehicle, theft from a motor vehicle (including336W attempts), bicycle theft, domestic burglary, wounding, robbery/theft from the person, 0.3 per cent. of the offences committed in 1997 resulted in a custodial sentence.
Similar information is not available for other European countries. However, information based on a survey conducted by the Council of Europe on the percentage of persons convicted who received custodial sentences for certain offences was published in February last year in the Statistical Bulletin 04/00, "International comparisons of criminal justice statistics 1998".
Copies of both these documents are available in the Library.