There are 19,280 employees in the sector in the North East.  The largest proportion of sector employees in the region is employed in police and law enforcement (57.9%), followed by custodial care (9.8%), as it is across all regions.

Similar to the England and Wales, the recorded crime rate for the West Midlands in 2003-2004 was 11,143 recorded crimes per 100,000 population.  Over 4,000 people were sentenced in the region’s Crown Courts and over 17,500 in Magistrates’ Court in 2003.  The prison population is 4,601 in the region, with a capacity of 7,757.

Workforce profile:

• 65.1% of the sector workforce are male
• 2.4% of the workforce are from a minority ethnic background
• less than 10% of the workforce are under 25 years (which is mainly due to entry requirement)
• the majority of the workforce are aged 35-44 years

Community justice and the Crown Prosecution Service sub-sectors have the largest proportion of women in the workforce.  HM Revenue and Customs has the largest proportion of people from a minority ethnic background (3.4%), but the ethnic background of 28.9% of their workforce are unknown.

Source: Skills Foresight Regional Factsheet – North East 2005

For more key facts on the justice sub-sector in the region see:

Sub-sector regional information