Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been subject to suspended committals for non-payment of council tax over the last three years; and what was the breakdown by (1) gender, and (2) age groups.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The table below shows the number of cases subject to suspended committals for non-payment of Council Tax over the last three years by gender. There are a few cases where the gender is not known. Data relating to age is not held centrally.
Year | Male | Female | Not Known | Total |
2014 | 549 | 482 | 148 | 1,179 |
2015 | 547 | 402 | 166 | 1,115 |
2016 (January -September) | 313 | 232 | 137 | 682 |
It is possible that one defendant may have more than one case.
Although suspended committals are reported as occurring within a particular year, the non-payment of Council Tax itself may be from a previous year or even a period covering more than one year.
This data is sourced from the HMCTS Libra Management Information System (MIS), and does not form part of the statistics for England and Wales published by the Ministry of Justice, which can be found at: www.justice.gov.uk. As such this data set is not subject to the same levels of quality assurance.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what requirements they have set for community rehabilitation companies to make specific arrangements for the rehabilitation of minority groups whose first language is not English.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
We have given Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) the flexibility to innovate and do what works to reduce reoffending, including tailoring rehabilitative support to offenders based on their individual needs. To promote equality of opportunity and avoid discrimination against offenders on the grounds of protected characteristics, CRCs are required to comply with relevant equalities and human rights legislation as they work with offenders.
Whilst not defined in law as a protected characteristic, we have taken steps to ensure that language is not a barrier to an individual’s rehabilitation. At the beginning of each sentence, CRCs are contractually required to arrange a face to face interview to assess each offender’s risk profile and rehabilitative needs. This informs the initial sentence plan, which the CRC must explain to the offender verbally and in writing to ensure they understand how they must behave and what they must do to comply with their sentence. The CRC must also seek confirmation that the offender has understood this explanation. Where the offender understands insufficient English to enable this, CRC must undertake the initial interview and provide confirmation of the sentence plan in a language they were able to understand.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions there have been in the past three years for (1) theft where the sum of money or the value of the goods alleged to have been taken is £10 or less, (2) begging, and (3) rough sleeping.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts for theft offences, and begging and sleeping out, in England and Wales, from 2012 to 2014 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for selected offence categories, England and Wales, 2012 to 2014 (1)(2) | |||
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Offence category | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
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Theft offences | 144,972 | 142,011 | 135,401 |
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Begging | 1,229 | 2,097 | 2,219 |
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Sleeping out | 21 | 30 | 23 |
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(1) The figures given in the table 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. | |||
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(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. | |||
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Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | |||
Ref: PQ HL 8107 |
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Information on the value of the items involved in each individual theft offence is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The figures in the table can also be found in the Outcomes by Offence tables in the annual publication on the Government website.
Asked by: Baroness Afshar (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) men, and (2) women, were imprisoned for non-payment of council tax in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, and (c) 2014.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Data showing how many people were imprisoned for non-payment of council tax in 2012, 2013 and 2014 are presented in the table below:
Year | Female | Male | Not Specified |
2012 | 41 | 62 | 4 |
2013 | 41 | 60 | 7 |
2014 | 33 | 45 | 11 |
It should be noted that there are a few cases where the gender of the defendant has not been specified and these have been shown separately in the table above.
These data are sourced from the Libra Management Information System (MIS). As such this data set is not subject to the same levels of quality assurance as national statistics
In extracting this data only offences of complaint for council tax committal application have been included where the court hearing date occurred within each year reported (i.e. between 1 January and 31 December).
It should also be noted that, although committals to prison are reported as occurring within a particular financial year, the non-payment of council tax itself may relate to a previous financial year or even a period covering more than one financial year.