Written question asked by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 January 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 31 January 2005. It was answered by Chris Leslie (Labour) on Monday, 31 January 2005 on behalf of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Question: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, if he will make a statement on the Lord Chancellor's plans to increase the number of community courts in England; what assessment the Department has made of the efficacy of the community court in North Liverpool; how many offences the court has considered, broken down by category; and what sentences were handed down.

Answer: Mr. Byrne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) if he will make a statement on the Lord Chancellor's plans to increase the number of community courts in England; [210050] (2) what assessment the Department has made of the efficacy of the community court in North Liverpool; how many offences the court has considered, broken down by category; and what sentences were handed down. [210051] Mr. Leslie: The information is as follows: 1. The Liverpool Community Justice Centre is the only pilot of this type. However, we are looking at other ways of piloting the problem-solving approach within the existing magistrates court system. The first of these will be based within Salford magistrates court. 2. At Liverpool, the community courtroom became operational on 9 December 2004 and it is too early to make an assessment of its efficacy. The court has been sitting for two days a week since 9 December 2004 and has heard over 100 cases. These include a range of antisocial behaviour type offences and crimes identified as priorities by the community. The court has imposed a wide range of sentences including community penalties and imprisonment and has also ordered the closure of a crack house. These sentences were informed by case management which looked at the problems of each offender and ways of addressing why they commit crime.

Secondary information