The requested information is shown in the following table:
Number of offenders Total sentenced Immediate custody Age group 1997 2007 1997 2007 10-14 11,629 19,368 130 513 15-17 67,463 78,019 6,953 5,317 18-21 202,583 186,349 20,836 18,771 Notes: 1. The 18-21 age band differs from the standard age definition of young adults (aged 18-20). Offenders aged 21 will be eligible for a slightly different range of custodial and community sentences than offenders aged 18 to 20. 2. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. 3. These data have been taken from the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings database. These data are presented on the principal offence basis. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed. Where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice Ref: PQ(JSAS)318445 (26/02/2010).
In answer to part (c), of those community orders which terminated in 2007 for those aged 18 to 21, 13 per cent. (3,865) were terminated because of further offences being committed and 26 per cent. (7,505) were terminated because the offender failed to comply with the order.
Data are only available from April 2005 as the community order was introduced under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 on 4 April 2005.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
For parts (a) and (b), the data held by the Youth Justice Board do not allow them to ascertain how many young people failed to comply with a community order, as they are compiled by offence, not by young person, and exclude the majority of cases of non-compliance, where a young person was warned but the matter was not brought to court.
(2) how many (a) 10 to 14 year-olds, (b) 14 to 17 year-olds and (c) 18 to 21 year-olds were convicted of a criminal offence in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2007.
The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts, by age group, England and Wales 1997, 2007 and 2008 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
The Ministry of Justice do not collect charging data; proceeded against information has been provided in lieu.
Proceeded against Found guilty Age group 1997 2007 2008 1997 2007 2008 10-14 19,120 24,975 21,703 11,627 19,373 17,382 15-17 103,475 101,559 89,260 67,524 78,068 71,009 18-21 280,227 228,561 222,501 202,929 186,734 185,780 22 and over 1,436,563 1,366,400 1,295,649 1,092,435 1,123,790 1,080,975 All ages 1,839,385 1,721,495 1,629,113 1,374,515 1,407,965 1,355,146 1 The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 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 Excludes convictions data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice
We do not have an estimate of the overall cost to criminal justice services of dealing with young offenders and this would be available only at disproportionate cost. However, the Youth Justice Board Annual Accounts show that 2008-09 they received funding of £495.287 million, which funds all of its functions including funding for local authorities’ youth offending teams and operation of the secure estate. The YJB’s forthcoming publication “Youth Justice Annual Workload Data 2008-09” reports that local authorities and their partners, such as social services, police and probation, contributed a further £222.8 million to the operation of youth offending teams in England and Wales in 2008-09.
The available information is shown in the following table. 2009 data are not yet available and will be published in the Ministry of Justice Statistics Bulletin “Sentencing statistics, England and Wales 2009”, due for publication autumn 2010.
Number of offenders Total sentenced for burglary Immediate custody for burglary 1996 1,589 21 1997 1,595 38 1998 1,834 62 1999 1,780 89 2000 1,598 147 2001 1,553 167 2002 1,708 159 2003 1,451 134 2004 1,583 132 2005 1,583 109 2006 1,482 133 2007 1,417 97 2008 1,249 87 Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. 2. These data have been taken from the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings database. These data are presented on the principal offence basis. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed. Where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice Ref: PQ(JSAS)318494 (26/02/2010).