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<p>I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.</p><p> </p><p>The
Government takes driving offences extremely seriously and wants to ensure that we
are doing everything we can to keep our roads safe. That is why we are legislating
to increase the maximum penalty for causing death by driving whilst disqualified from
two to 10 years, and create a new offence of causing serious injury by driving whilst
disqualified. We are also changing the law to allow the commencement of provisions
which will ensure that courts must take account of any time in prison in setting the
length of a driving disqualification.</p><p> </p><p>The number of people found guilty
for driving while disqualified in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2013 (the latest
data available) can be viewed in the table.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="8"><strong>Defendants
proceeded against at magistrates' court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts
for offences relating to driving while disqualified<sup>(1)</sup>, England & Wales,
2009-2013<sup>(2)(3)</sup></strong></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Offence</td><td> </td><td>Outcome</td><td>2009</td><td>2010</td><td>2011</td><td>2012</td><td>2013</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td
rowspan="17">Driving while disqualified</td><td> </td><td>Proceeded against</td><td>13,924</td><td>11,122</td><td>9,379</td><td>8,191</td><td>7,619</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Found Guilty</td><td>13,217</td><td>10,465</td><td>8,869</td><td>7,676</td><td>7,083</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td><em>Conviction ratio<sup>(4)</sup></em></td><td><em>94.9</em></td><td><em>94.1</em></td><td><em>94.6</em></td><td><em>93.7</em></td><td><em>93.0</em></td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Sentenced</td><td>13,260</td><td>10,500</td><td>8,917</td><td>7,684</td><td>7,099</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td><em>Of which:</em></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Absolute discharge</td><td>47</td><td>43</td><td>45</td><td>67</td><td>60</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Conditional discharge</td><td>236</td><td>143</td><td>134</td><td>121</td><td>119</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Fine</td><td>963</td><td>895</td><td>820</td><td>755</td><td>795</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Community sentence</td><td>5,688</td><td>4,483</td><td>3,626</td><td>3,099</td><td>2,580</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Suspended sentences</td><td>2,558</td><td>2,111</td><td>1,924</td><td>1,639</td><td>1,704</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Otherwise dealt with</td><td>100</td><td>93</td><td>68</td><td>41</td><td>56</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Immediate custody</td><td>3,668</td><td>2,732</td><td>2,300</td><td>1,962</td><td>1,785</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td><em>Custody rate<sup>(5)</sup></em></td><td><em>27.7</em></td><td><em>26.0</em></td><td><em>25.8</em></td><td><em>25.5</em></td><td><em>25.1</em></td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Average
fine (£)</td><td>267.65</td><td>246.26</td><td>278.35</td><td>283.06</td><td>284.67</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td>Average custodial sentence length (months)<sup>(6)</sup></td><td>3.3</td><td>3.2</td><td>3.2</td><td>3.1</td><td>3.2</td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>(1)
An offence under S 103 (1) of the Road Trafic Act 1988</td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="7">(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.</td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td colspan="7">(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.</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="7">(3) The number of offenders sentenced
can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty
in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown Court, may be sentenced
in the following year.</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td colspan="7">(4) Conviction ratio is
calculated as the number of convictions as a proportion of the number of proceedings.</td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td></tr><tr><td colspan="6">(5) The proportion of offenders sentenced who are sentenced
to immediate custody.</td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>(6) Excludes life and indeterminate
sentences.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td
colspan="4">Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.</td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Ref: PQ 220161</td><td> </td><td>
</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table>
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