[holding answer 18 February 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
The figures for the number of cautions issued and the average fine issued for the offences of selling alcohol to persons under the age of 18, can be found in the following tables, which have been broken down by region.
Region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 North East 17 5 14 7 2 4 0 3 3 8 North West 63 18 12 8 20 33 27 42 34 27 Yorkshire and Humberside 25 7 7 8 1 — 18 21 27 7 East Midlands 7 8 15 16 5 2 3 7 2 0 West Midlands 6 5 3 3 12 2 3 7 11 3 East of England 23 6 7 0 1 11 9 5 0 2 London 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 South East 19 9 6 3 4 0 0 3 2 3 South West 4 14 0 0 0 4 2 11 12 8 Wales 6 4 5 8 3 3 1 2 7 0 England and Wales 171 76 69 53 48 59 63 101 98 58 1 Data are on the principal offence basis. 2 Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions : Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 Schedule (Sec 3) para 4(1). Licensing Act 1964 Sec 169(1). Holder of occasional permission or his agent knowingly selling to, knowingly allow consumption by or allowing any person to sell, intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. Selling etc. intoxicating liquor to person under 18 for consumption on the premises. Licensing Act 2003 S.146 Sale of alcohol to person under 18. 3 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 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. Source: Court proceedings data held by CJEA - Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Ministry of Justice.
Average fine amount (£) Offences Region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Selling etc. intoxicating liquor to persons under 18 for consumption on the premises; Sale of alcohol to person under 18 North East 321 237 164 110 118 250 259 221 204 443 North West 129 233 254 256 244 201 209 220 212 252 Yorkshire and Humberside 129 120 193 217 244 221 100 226 183 213 East Midlands 150 - 225 375 300 404 247 259 262 283 West Midlands 351 228 185 108 160 240 253 209 209 340 East of England 172 168 186 370 125 400 306 169 302 332 London 210 280 180 200 200 350 306 288 284 312 South East 314 317 175 250 250 183 306 281 361 282 South West 150 167 220 450 250 330 323 272 207 353 Wales 186 181 229 267 100 250 211 192 243 335 Total 227 212 194 206 208 249 253 237 246 305 Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected are subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: OMS, Analytical Services