§ Mr. VazTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how many wardship orders were made in each year since 1990. [56153]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe following statistics are available:
1990—6,227
1991—5,014.
837WThe Children Act 1989 came into force on 14 October 1991. Under the Act, the use of wardship by local authorities is severely limited. Leave to make an application for any exercise of the court's inherent jurisdiction must be granted by the High Court. Applications by private individuals are not restricted, but the same results can generally be achieved by obtaining a prohibited steps or specific issue order under section 8 of the Act. Statistics have not been collected since 1991 because the number of wardship orders made has been negligible.
£ 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 Special firearms grant1 78,144 7,692 — — — Beacon scheme2 — — 99,977 6,000 — Arrest referral — — — 523,000 613,000 Operation Hawk3 — — — 1,943,000 1,257,000 Robbery grant — — — 3,200,000 — Fuel distribution emergency — — — 505,103 58,050 Targeted policing initiative (North Trafford) — — — 62,898 44,597 Targeted policing initiative (Trafford Park) — — — — 69,785 Execution of warrants — — — 233,000 — Policing Oldham disturbances — — — — 1,440,000 Commonwealth games4 — — — — 1,700,000 1 Firearms grant for policing costs associated with ban on handguns. 2 Beacon scheme funding for imaginative ideas linked to increasing police efficiency. 3 A Greater Manchester police street crime initiative. 4 Payment of the first instalment of a total grant of up to £5 million for policing the games.