§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 13 February to question 98141, what the reconviction levels were between 1995 and 2002; and what estimates he has made of reconviction levels in(a) 2003 and (b) 2004. [99723]
§ Hilary BennTwo-year 'un-adjusted' reconviction rates for prisoners discharged from custody are available for 1995 to 1998. These were 58 per cent. in 1995, 57 per cent. in 1996, 58 per cent. in 1997 and 59 per cent. in 1998. These rates are published in "Prison Statistics—England and Wales 2001".
Reconviction rates for offenders discharged from custody have also been published according to the requirements of the Government's Public Service Agreement (PSA) 10 target. These are adjusted to take out convictions for offences committed prior to discharge, giving a reconviction rate of 55.3 per cent. for the first quarter of 1999. The equivalent figures for the first quarter of 1997 and 1998 are 56.8 per cent. and 55.7 per cent. respectively.
Neither set of rates indicate trends in rates over time, as they make no allowance for changes in the characteristics and criminal histories of offenders given custodial sentences. To do this a predicted rate is used. Comparisons between the actual and predicted reconviction rates for 1999 show that the actual rate was 3.3 percentage points lower than predicted relative to the 1997 baseline.
Reconviction rates for more recent periods are not yet available.