David Amess (Southend West, Conservative)

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what training has been provided to magistrates in (a) England and Wales and (b) Northern Ireland on the use of antisocial behaviour orders in each of the last two years; and what the cost of the training provided was in each year.

Harriet Harman (Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Camberwell & Peckham, Labour)

The Judicial Studies Board (JSB) is responsible for the provision of guidance and training materials for magistrates in England and Wales. The delivery of training is performed on a local basis. There is currently no central data collected on the information requested and to provide the information would incur disproportionate cost.

In April 2001, the JSB issued training materials for magistrates in respect of the antisocial behaviour provisions contained in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. These materials have been updated twice since that date. The latest update was issued in March 2004 and includes changes in the law introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. The chairman of the JSB Magisterial Committee issued a letter in 2004 to all court areas indicating that the JSB expectation was that all magistrates will receive a minimum of two hours of face to face training on ASBOs within the first 18 months following the implementation of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.

The Magistrates' Court Sentencing Guidelines include guidance on how to deal with breach of an ASBO and lists examples of possible aggravating factors.