Robbery: Children

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children were charged or cautioned for robbery in (a) the east of England and (b) Suffolk in each of the last five years. (183385)

The number of children aged 10 to 17 given reprimands and final warnings in (a) the east of England and (b) Suffolk for the years 2002 to 2006 can be found in table 1.

From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures show the total for final warnings and reprimands which make up cautions.

Information on charging is not reported to the Ministry of Justice, but proceeded against data have been provided in table 2.

*Table 1:* *The number of children aged 10 to 17 given reprimands and final warnings for robbery offences in (a)* east of England and (b) Suffolk for the years 2002 to 2006^1,2,3,4
Region	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
East region excluding Suffolk	27	35	26	30	37
Suffolk	3	3	4	5	2
Total (i.e. east region including Suffolk)	30	38	30	35	39
¹ These data are on the principal offence basis. ² Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. ³ Includes the following statute: Theft Act 1968. ⁴ From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures show the total for final warnings and reprimands which make up cautions. Source: Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice

*Table 2:* *The number of children aged 10 to 17 proceeded against at magistrates courts for robbery offences in (a) east of England and (b) Suffolk for the years 2002 to 2006*^1,2,3
Region	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
East region excl Suffolk	501	414	414	389	442
Suffolk	22	26	32	19	24
Total (i.e. east region including Suffolk)	523	440	446	408	466
¹ These data are on the principal offence basis. ² Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. ³Includes the following statute: Theft Act 1968 Source: Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice

Volume 471: debated on Monday 4 February 2008