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Young Offenders

Volume 474: debated on Wednesday 26 March 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persistent young offenders are registered; and how many and what proportion of total offences there were in which the offender was a persistent young offender in each police force area in England and Wales in each year since 1997. (195605)

Statistics on Persistent Young Offenders (PYOs) are available from 1997 to 2007. These figures are derived from police national computer data, and monitor the pledge to halve the average time from arrest to sentence for dealing with PYOs in England and Wales from 142 days in 1996 to 71 days.

The following table shows the number of PYOs in England and Wales in each year since 1997. It also shows the number of cases involving such offenders and the average time from arrest to sentence for dealing with them. Data in this table are published as national statistics by the Ministry of Justice.

Key statistics on persistent young offenders (PYO), 1997 to 2007

Number of PYOs

Number of PYO convictions

Arrest to sentence interval (days)

1997

9,868

16,010

141

1998

11,079

18,605

125

1999

12,014

21,151

108

2000

13,094

23,130

93

2001

13,854

25,393

76

2002

14,244

26,116

68

2003

14,242

26,083

66

2004

14,403

26,363

69

2005

14,725

27,037

68

2006

15,528

28,252

72

2007

16,512

30,683

65

It should be noted that the increase in the number of people who meet the definition of a PYO is partly a consequence of the large improvements in the timeliness of dealing with such offenders. The definition of a PYO relies on counting successive sentencing occasions for a single offender during a limited time period. Speedier operation of the youth justice system has markedly reduced the average time taken from arrest to sentence, and as a result the number of young offenders who fall within the scope of this definition has increased. This was a particular issue from 1997 to 2002, the period during which these timeliness improvements were taking effect.

Information is not available on the total number offences committed by PYOs. However, information is available on the number of convictions handed down to these offenders, and the following table therefore shows the proportion of total notifiable offences brought to justice that is attributable to court convictions of PYOs. Please note that data on the numbers of offences brought to justice are only currently available for the years 2000 to 2006 inclusive.

Persistent young offender (PYO) convictions as a proportion of notifiable offences brought to justice, 2000-06

Court convictions of PYOs

Offences brought to justice

Number

Percentage

2000

1,012.722

23,130

2.28

2001

1,001.301

25,393

2.54

2002

1,031.214

26,116

2.53

2003

1,059.663

26,083

2.46

2004

1,124.574

26,363

2.34

2005

1,276.969

27,037

2.12

2006

1,408.547

28,252

2.01

The Criminal Justice System area breakdowns are in the following table.

Persistent Young Offender (PYO) convictions as a proportion of notifiable offences brought to justice, 2000-06

Number of convictions of persistent young offenders

CJS area name

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

0

England and Wales1

23,130

25,393

26,116

26,083

26,363

27,037

28,252

1

Metropolitan

2,009

2,291

2,236

2,069

2,205

2,133

2,549

3

Cumbria

305

300

318

337

321

352

415

4

Lancashire

830

843

1,089

1,035

945

1,078

1,216

5

Merseyside

820

966

999

1,015

1,042

835

797

6

Greater Manchester

1,875

2,290

2,165

1,866

1,885

2,101

2,251

7

Cheshire

378

389

449

438

495

530

483

10

Northumbria

1,539

1,612

1,498

1,620

1,518

1,619

1,730

11

Durham

545

464

506

414

328

382

457

12

North Yorkshire

282

280

282

305

333

333

380

13

West Yorkshire

1,367

1,327

1,309

1,432

1,623

1,676

1,575

14

South Yorkshire

696

645

717

713

738

701

646

16

Humberside

412

494

419

501

626

647

653

17

Cleveland

496

506

557

389

396

382

419

20

West Midlands

1,663

1,839

1,759

1,807

1,743

1,456

1,401

21

Staffordshire

400

464

419

516

511

517

515

22

West Mercia

392

414

458

446

501

508

628

23

Warwickshire

145

193

172

145

142

177

225

30

Derbyshire

322

411

403

392

414

416

433

31

Nottinghamshire

669

689

687

671

581

703

709

32

Lincolnshire

228

242

229

260

221

171

199

33

Leicestershire

374

421

459

448

315

466

439

34

Northamptonshire

298

288

282

254

239

243

235

35

Cambridgeshire

267

245

283

342

273

315

310

36

Norfolk

268

278

256

294

258

220

271

37

Suffolk

213

285

363

390

446

491

423

40

Bedfordshire

160

142

127

160

225

189

172

41

Hertfordshire

199

209

246

276

339

362

356

42

Essex

455

479

470

451

514

654

736

43

Thames Valley

455

559

659

561

500

636

721

44

Hampshire

1,079

1,052

1,236

1,184

1,207

1,128

1,116

45

Surrey

175

235

219

194

239

249

258

46

Kent

480

614

619

715

654

673

686

47

Sussex

242

335

414

465

615

762

828

50

Devon and Cornwall

299

418

434

504

576

518

485

52

Avon and Somerset

314

449

496

482

456

564

612

53

Gloucestershire

135

183

188

194

199

215

285

54

Wiltshire

151

166

192

203

222

206

202

55

Dorset

109

141

183

219

215

243

274

60

North Wales

273

346

426

451

438

386

402

61

Gwent

341

336

325

372

420

396

409

62

South Wales

1,082

1,111

1,100

1,018

900

869

719

63

Dyfed Powys

158

212

225

242

199

228

264

Percentage

Proportion of convictions of persistent young offenders from all notifiable offences brought to justice

CJS area name

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

0

England and Wales1

2.28

2.54

2.53

2.46

2.34

2.12

2.01

1

Metropolitan

1.60

1.92

1.70

1.60

1.61

1.27

1.26

3

Cumbria

2.99

3.15

3.15

3.11

2.73

2.79

3.23

4

Lancashire

2.76

2.82

3.47

3.32

2.74

2.75

2.48

5

Merseyside

2.70

3.31

3.45

3.19

3.08

2.02

1.82

6

Greater Manchester

3.12

4.00

3.86

3.25

2.79

2.89

2.73

7

Cheshire

2.23

2.58

2.86

2.64

2.89

2.36

1.94

10

Northumbria

3.81

3.97

3.68

3.80

3.94

3.96

3.57

11

Durham

4.28

3.56

3.70

3.24

2.71

2.84

2.94

12

North Yorkshire

2.25

2.32

2.32

2.32

2.23

2.14

2.51

13

West Yorkshire

2.61

2.83

2.76

2.98

2.63

2.33

2.38

14

South Yorkshire

2.68

2.62

2.92

2.60

2.52

1.93

1.56

16

Humberside

2.23

2.82

2.47

2.66

2.87

2.69

2.51

17

Cleveland

3.39

3.45

3.67

2.61

2.67

2.32

2.03

20

West Midlands

2.31

2.43

2.21

2.25

2.48

2.06

1.84

21

Staffordshire

1.78

2.23

1.80

2.21

2.23

2.00

1.84

22

West Mercia

1.91

1.91

2.08

2.01

2.08

1.84

2.13

23

Warwickshire

2.10

2.38

2.23

1.68

1.55

1.69

1.82

30

Derbyshire

2.00

2.40

2.19

2.19

2.23

1.97

2.04

31

Nottinghamshire

2.54

2.76

2.97

2.72

2.35

2.56

2.36

32

Lincolnshire

2.63

2.35

2.11

2.44

1.97

1.19

1.31

33

Leicestershire

2.11

2.21

2.56

2.33

1.43

1.86

1.61

34

Northamptonshire

2.13

2.18

2.25

1.97

1.78

2.00

1.57

35

Cambridgeshire

2.24

2.25

2.32

2.64

2.20

2.02

1.77

36

Norfolk

1.93

2.19

1.95

2.15

1.70

1.38

1.46

37

Suffolk

1.82

2.47

3.03

2.93

2.97

3.21

2.44

40

Bedfordshire

1.55

1.24

1.10

1.45

1.89

1.43

1.26

41

Hertfordshire

1.49

1.53

1.65

1.70

1.76

1.93

1.32

42

Essex

2.28

2.27

2.14

1.92

2.03

1.97

1.95

43

Thames Valley

1.50

1.81

1.93

1.73

1.38

1.18

1.40

44

Hampshire

3.34

3.32

3.85

3.58

3.23

2.95

2.90

45

Surrey

1.67

1.93

1.91

1.51

1.35

1.58

1.47

46

Kent

1.80

2.44

2.53

2.53

2.24

1.99

1.87

47

Sussex

1.21

1.53

1.83

1.97

2.26

2.37

2.44

50

Devon and Cornwall

1.18

1.67

1.60

1.84

2.06

1.68

1.47

52

Avon and Somerset

1.21

1.73

1.83

1.80

1.74

1.64

1.60

53

Gloucestershire

1.06

1.40

1.43

1.46

1.65

1.51

1.76

54

Wiltshire

1.42

1.53

1.92

1.80

1.93

1.70

1.67

55

Dorset

0.97

1.26

1.63

2.02

1.37

1.50

1.63

60

North Wales

2.08

2.75

3.22

3.34

2.97

2.45

2.19

61

Gwent

2.00

1.92

2.00

2.21

2.65

2.64

2.30

62

South Wales

3.56

3.76

3.61

3.22

2.87

2.88

2.43

63

Dyfed Powys

1.44

1.87

1.91

1.93

1.83

1.75

1.92

1 The England and Wales totals include cases dealt with by the British Transport Police or else are not assigned to a local constabulary.

Further information on persistent young offenders can be found on the dedicated page of the Ministry of Justice website:

www.justice.gov.uk/publications/averagetimearresttosentencepyo.htm