[holding answer 22 February 2007]: Information on charging is not held within the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. The following table has been provided by the Crown Prosecution Services; it shows the number of charged offences under s57, s58 and s59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003; and s25 Immigration Act 1971 for offences of trafficking people reaching a first hearing in 2005 and 2006. Any offences under s4 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 would also be relevant to the hon. Member’s question, but no such offences were recorded during the two years in question.
Statute 2005 2006 Sexual Offences Act 2003 s57 15 14 Sexual Offences Act 2003 s57(1) 23 7 Sexual Offences Act 2003 s58 12 34 Sexual Offences Act 2003 s58(1) 7 16 Sexual Offences Act 2003 s59 0 2 Sexual Offences Act 2003 s59(1) 0 1 Immigration Act 1971 s25(1) 209 225 Immigration Act 1971 s25(1) and (6) 233 236 Immigration Act 1971 s25(l)(b) 12 5 Immigration Act 1971 s25(l)(c) 34 5 Immigration Act 1971 s25A and 25(6) 24 32 Immigration Act 1971 s25B(1) and 25(6) 2 0 Immigration Act 1971 s25B(3) and 25(6) 11 4 Total 582 581 Note: Figures represent numbers of offences reaching a first hearing Source: Offence Based universe of CPS (Crown Prosecution Services) Compass Management Information System