§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Antisocial Behaviour Orders have been(a) sought and (b) granted in (i) each police authority area and (ii) each social services authority area where not coterminous with a police authority area. [34776]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 8 February 2002]: Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) are community-based civil orders, which can be applied for by the police or local authority, in consultation with each other against an individual or several individuals whose behaviour is antisocial. Applications are to the magistrates court acting in its civil capacity.
From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 data on the number of ASBOs issued were collected by police force area. No information on applications refused is available for this period.
From 1 June 2000 official statistics on the number of ASBOs issued are based on quarterly returns from magistrates courts committees (MCCs) which from 1 April 2001 were all aligned with police force areas. These returns are not presently designed to give figures below MCC level. A review of these statistics identified an undercount and the Home Department therefore undertook an exercise with the police to obtain more reliable figures. As a result of this reconciliation exercise the total number of ASBOs issued within England and Wales up to the end of September 2001 was 466, 184 more than previously reported. The information available by police force area/magistrates courts committees is given in the table.
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Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued or refused1 as from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2001 by police force area/MCC Police force area/MCC Issued Refused1 Avon and Somerset 28 — Bedfordshire 2 — Cambridgeshire 8 — Cheshire — — Cleveland 10 1 Cumbria 2 — Derbyshire 12 — Devon and Cornwall 10 — Dorset 4 — Durham 10 — Essex — — Gloucestershire 4 — Greater Manchester 24 — Hampshire 4 1 Hertfordshire 9 — Humberside 11 —
Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued or refused1 as from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2001 by police force area/MCC Police force area/MCC Issued Refused1 Kent 15 — Lancashire 16 — Leicestershire 5 — Lincolnshire 1 — Merseyside 17 — Metropolitan police2/GLMCA 40 5 Norfolk 17 1 Northamptonshire 3 — Northumbria 15 — North Yorkshire 10 — Nottinghamshire 16 — South Yorkshire 6 — Staffordshire 10 — Suffolk 5 1 Surrey 4 — Sussex 7 1 Thames Valley 7 — Warwickshire 3 — West Mercia 47 — West Midlands 65 — West Yorkshire 15 — Wiltshire — 4 Dyfed Powys — — Gwent 1 — North Wales 1 — South Wales 2 — England and Wales 466 14 1 Data collected on refused applications as from 1 June 2000 only 2 Including City of London
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will extend the power to apply for antisocial behaviour orders to(a) parish and town councils, (b) governing bodies of schools and (c) other persons affected by antisocial behaviour. [34775]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 8 February 2002]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary recently announced important proposals to increase the effectiveness of antisocial behaviour orders, (ASBOs) which include extending the power to apply for ASBOs to the British Transport police and registered social landlords. We would very much encourage parish and town councils governing bodies of schools, and indeed all other bodies representing the community to work for the reduction of antisocial behaviour, but we believe that where an application for an ASBO may be appropriate they should continue to work through the police and/or the local authority.