HC Deb 10 March 2004 vol 418 cc1564-9W
Mr. Stephen O'Brien

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been issued, broken down by(a)region of offender and (b)age of offender since their inception; and how many of these offenders have since been sentenced to custody. [158842]

Ms Blears

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) were introduced from 1 April 1999 on application to the magistrates court acting in its civil capacity. The Police Reform Act (2002) authorised the magistrates courts and the Crown court to issue ASBOs on conviction, and the county courts (from 1 April 2003), to issue ASBOs on application. Data are given in table A of numbers of ASBOs issued, at all courts, as reported to the Home Office, by court type, area and age, up to 30 September 2003 (latest available).

In table B data are given, by age group and area, from 1 June 2000 up to 31 December 2002 (latest available) on breaches of ASBOs resulting in a custodial sentence.

Table A: Number of anti-social behaviour orders issued at all courts, as reported to the Home Office, from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2003, by court type, age and area: England and Wales
MCC/Police force area Total issued 10–17 Age 18 and over Unknown1
Magistrates Court
Avon and Somerset 45 15 19 11
Bedfordshire 16 5 10 1
Cambridgeshire 22 13 4 5
Cheshire 33 14 19
Cleveland 23 18 4 1
Cumbria 28 10 17 1
Derbyshire 21 6 12 3
Devon and Cornwall 18 7 10 1
Dorset 5 5
Durham 28 15 13
Essex 4 3 1
Gloucestershire 9 6 3
GLMCA/Metropolitan Police2 113 37 56 20
Greater Manchester 240 161 66 13
Hampshire 37 20 16 1
Hertfordshire 26 16 8 2
Humberside 19 6 11 2
Kent 42 25 17
Lancashire 56 39 11 6
Leicestershire 7 5 1 1
Lincolnshire 7 4 3
Merseyside 66 37 21 8
Norfolk 30 11 7 12
Northamptonshire 9 8 1
Northumbria 53 22 23 8
North Yorkshire 13 6 3 4
Nottinghamshire 26 11 14 1
South Yorkshire 44 19 22 3
Staffordshire 38 20 17 1
Suffolk 27 14 10 3
Surrey 10 6 3 1
Sussex 39 23 12 4
Thames Valley 21 7 8 6
Warwickshire 25 16 9
West Mercia 100 45 50 5
West Midlands 154 54 74 26
West Yorkshire 82 55 23 4
Wiltshire 3 2 1
England 1,539 786 599 154
Dyfed Powys 11 11
Gwent 8 5 3
North Wales 15 10 5
South Wales 25 12 13
Wales 59 27 32 0

Table A: Number of anti-social behaviour orders issued at all courts, as reported to the Home Office, from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2003, by court type, age and area: England and Wales
MCC/Police force area Total issued 10–17 Age 18 and over Unknown1
England and Wales MCC/ PFA 1,598 813 631 154
County Court Group
County Court
London 1 1
Merseyside 1 1
England and Wales County Court Group 2 2
Crown Court Circuit
Crown Court
Midland 4 2 2
Northern 5 1 4

Table B: Number of breaches1of an anti-social behaviour order reported to the Home office from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2002— England and Wales
ASBOs issued Age ASBOs breached Age
MCC/Police force area Total 10–17 18 and over Unknown Total 10–17 18 and over Unknown
Avon and Somerset 25 10 13 2 7 4 23
Bedfordshire 8 2 5 1 6 3 3
Cambridgeshire 5 3 2 2 2
Cheshire 16 8 8 7 5 2
Cleveland 13 12 1 7 6 1
Cumbria 15 4 10 1 2 2
Derbyshire 15 5 10 9 3 6
Devon and Cornwall 11 5 6 4 1 3
Dorset 4 4 1 1
Durham 21 12 9 16 9 7
Essex 2 2 1 1
Gloucestershire 5 3 2 1 1
GLMCA/Metropolitan Police3 51 23 18 10 17 8 29
Greater Manchester 104 73 28 3 30 24 26
Hampshire 15 10 5 3 3
Hertfordshire 16 10 5 1 5 1 24
Humberside 16 6 8 2 5 4 1
Kent 36 21 15 3 3
Lancashire 23 17 6 10 5 5
Leicestershire 5 4 1 3 3
Lincolnshire 3 2 1 1 21
Merseyside 32 23 9 6 3 3
Norfolk 19 7 6 6 8 3 25
Northamptonshire 9 8 1 1 1
Northumbria 30 17 13 11 4 27
North Yorkshire 7 4 3 6 2 24
Nottinghamshire 16 5 11 8 2 6
South Yorkshire 24 13 11 8 5 23
Staffordshire 22 10 11 1 6 2 4
Suffolk 9 8 1 1 1
Surrey 6 4 1 1 3 23
Sussex 23 15 7 1 5 4 1
Thames Valley 14 4 5 5 2 2
Warwickshire 18 12 6 8 4 4
West Mercia 75 34 41 25 12 213
West Midlands 93 42 36 15 42 25 17
West Yorkshire 29 21 8 13 9 4
Wiltshire 1 1 1 1
England 836 464 323 49 294 164 130
Dyfed Powys
Gwent 4 4 3 3
North Wales 8 5 3 5 2 3
South Wales 7 1 6 3 1 2
Wales 19 10 9 0 11 6 5
Total England and Wales 855 474 332 49 305 170 135

Table A: Number of anti-social behaviour orders issued at all courts, as reported to the Home Office, from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2003, by court type, age and area: England and Wales
MCC/Police force area Total issued 10–17 Age 18 and over Unknown1
North Eastern 3 3
South Eastern 1 1
South Eastern Provincial 2 2
Western 7 2 5
Wales and Chester 1 1
England and Wales CC Circuits 23 5 18
Total all courts England ant Wales 1,623 818 651 154
1From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 data collected by police force area on numbers issued only.
2Including City of London.

Custodial sentence given4
MCC/Police force area Total 10–17 Age 18 and over Unknown
Avon and Somerset 4 1 23
Bedfordshire 2 2
Cambridgeshire 1 1
Cheshire 5 4 1
Cleveland 1 1
Cumbria 2 2
Derbyshire 4 2 2
Devon and Cornwall 2 1 1
Dorset
Durham 10 3 27
Essex 1 1
Gloucestershire 1 1
GLMCA/Metropolitan
Police3 11 3 28
Greater Manchester 21 16 25
Hampshire 1 1
Hertfordshire 2 2
Humberside 2 2
Kent
Lancashire 5 2 3
Leicestershire 1 1
Lincolnshire
Merseyside 6 3 3
Norfolk 1 1
Northamptonshire 1 1
Northumbria 3 3
North Yorkshire 1 1
Nottinghamshire 4 1 3
South Yorkshire 3 3
Staffordshire 4 1 3
Suffolk
Surrey 1 21
Sussex 1 1
Thames Valley
Warwickshire 1 1
West Mercia 16 6 10
West Midlands 25 12 13
West Yorkshire 6 3 23
Wiltshire
England 149 69 80 0
Dyfed Powys 0
Gwent 1 1
North Wales 1 1
South Wales 1 1
Wales 3 2 1 0
Total England and Wales 152 71 81 0
1Breaches are counted in this table on a persons basis, i.e. multiple breaches (occurring at the same time), or where the order has been breached on more than one occasion, are all counted as one breach.
2Includes breaches where the ASBO recipient was a juvenile when the order was given.
3Including City of London.
4Excluding two persons given a fully suspended sentence and five cases where a sentence of one day in police cells was given.

John Mann

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders as a means of fighting prostitution. [159458]

Caroline Flint

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been used in several parts of England and Wales to tackle the anti-social behaviour resulting from prostitution. They are only one of the tools available to tackle anti-social behaviour, and anecdotal evidence suggests that they are more effective in dealing with the anti-social effects of prostitution when used together with support to help sex workers exit prostitution. Work is currently under way to scope the issues around prostitution and this will consider the effectiveness of all means of dealing with prostitution.

John Mann

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those applying for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders in the past year have been registered social landlords. [159459]

Ms Blears

The Police Reform Act (December 2002) empowered registered social landlords to apply for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) directly. Data are collected on the type of applicant only on those orders issued in the magistrates court, acting in its civil capacity, and within the county courts. Orders can also be made following conviction of an offence in the criminal courts—there is no applicant for these orders.

From 1 December 2002 up to 30 September 2003 (latest available), 13 of the 715 applications for ASBOs, as reported to the Home Office, have been made by registered social landlords. All were issued.

John Mann

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been issued to those under the age of 18 in the past year. [159462]

Ms Blears

Information is given in the following table.

Number of anti-social behaviour orders issued, at all courts, by age and period, as reported to the Home Office, from 1 January 2002 to 30 September 2003 (latest available) England and Wales
Age 1 January 2002 to 30 November 2002 1 December 20021to 30 September 2003
10–17 205 371
18 and over 130 334
Unknown 23 1
Total 358 706
1Following introduction of the Police Reform Act (December 2002) data for December 2002 have been included in the first quarter 2003.

John Mann

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for breach of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [159679]

Ms Blears

The available information relating to breaches of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), within England and Wales, covers the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2002. Of the total number of 329 persons prosecuted for breach of an ASBO during this period, 305 persons were found guilty.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been issued by (a) Merseyside Police and (b) local authorities in Merseyside in each of the last five years. [159596]

Ms Blears

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) were introduced from 1 April 1999 on application, by the Police or Local Authority, to the magistrates' court acting in its civil capacity. The Police Reform Act (2002) authorised the magistrates' courts and the Crown Court to issue ASBOs on conviction, and the county courts (from 1 April 2003), to issue ASBOs on application. Data are given in the table of numbers of ASBOs issued, at all courts, within Merseyside, up to 30 September 2003 (latest available).

Data are collected on the type of applicant on those orders only issued in the magistrates court, acting in its civil capacity, and within the county courts. Orders can also be made following conviction of an offence in the

Number of ASBOs, issued within Merseyside, at all courts, by period and applicant. 1 April 1999 to 30 September 2003
Applications by Issued where the applicant was
Period Police Local authority County courts Total Police Local authority County courts Total Issued on conviction
1 April 1999 to 31 May 20001 2 2 3 12 2 2 3 8 3
1 June 2000 to 31 December 2000 2 1 3 3 2 1 3 3 3
1 January 2001 to 31 December 2001 0 7 3 7 0 7 3 7 3
1 January 2002 to 30 November 2002 0 22 3— 22 0 22 3— 22 3
1 December 2002 to 30 September 2003 4 23 3 27 4 22 1 27 0
Total 4 53 2 71 6 52 1 67 0
1From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 data was collected by police force area only on numbers issued or refused.
2Not available.
3Not applicable.