Written question asked by David Lepper (Labour) on Thursday, 14 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 October 2004. It was answered by Chris Leslie (Labour) on Thursday, 21 October 2004 on behalf of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Question: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, how many cases of breaches of anti-social behaviour orders have been heard by (a) Brighton and (b) Hove magistrates courts in each month since January 2003.

Answer: Mr. Lepper: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many cases of breaches of antisocial behaviour orders have been heard by (a) Brighton and (b) Hove magistrates courts in each month since January 2003. [192389] Mr. Leslie: Brighton and Hove magistrates courts have been amalgamated and operate as a single court. Antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) breach data are compiled through a manual matching process (primarily using names and dates of birth) between those ASBOs reported to have been issued since 1 June 2000 and breaches reported on the Home Office Court Proceedings Database. (Prior to 1 June 2000 only data on numbers of ASBOs issued and refused were collected from police forces). Since it takes several months for court proceedings data to be received by the Home Office, and then validated and corrected, the Research, Development and Statistics Directorate at the Home Office will be publishing statistics on breaches on an annual basis. Breach data for 2003 will be available in the late autumn.

Secondary information