Acceptable Behaviour Contracts

HC Deb 13 February 2004 vol 418 c222W

Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many acceptable behaviour contracts were issued in(a) York and (b) North Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement. [155764]

Ms Blears

The Home Office does not routinely collect statistics on the use or otherwise of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs). ABC schemes, also known as acceptable behaviour agreements, are voluntary and have been developed by a range of agencies whose role it is to prevent such behaviour.

Research conducted in April 2002 showed that there were 173 ABC schemes running in England and Wales, with 1,868 contracts signed. A Home Office RDS publication on the evaluation of an ABC Scheme in the London borough of Islington was published on 20 January this year.