§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the number and percentage of cases dealt with at first appearance at the juvenile court and subsequently youth court for each of the last five years(a) in England and Wales and (b) in each region for England and Wales;
(2) what was the average length of time from offence to charge or summons for juveniles in each of the last five years (a) in England and Wales and (b) in each region of England and Wales;
(3) what was the average length of time from first appearance to completion of a case at the juvenile court and subsequently youth court for each of the last five years (a) in England and Wales and (b) in each region for England and Wales;
(4) what was the average length of time from charge or summons to first listing in the juvenile and subsequently youth court for each of the last five years (a) in England and Wales and (b) in each region for England and Wales.
§ Mr. MacleanThe readily available information, which is collected in selected sample weeks in February, June and 373W October of each year for indictable offences—including either way—is given in the table. Information from the 1993 samples will be available in early 1994.
Average time taken for indictable proceedings1 in juvenile courts2 by stage of proceedings and area, 1989 to 1992 Drugs/percentage Area/year Average number of days from Offence to charge or summons Charge or summons to first listing First listing to completion Offence to completion Percentage completed on first listing Numbers of defendants in sample London 1989 42 18 68 128 13 363 1990 44 19 87 150 10 326 1991 45 19 76 141 11 292 1992 54 18 66 137 20 323 Other Metropolitan districts 1989 42 21 60 123 16 543 1990 48 20 75 143 13 582 1991 42 21 73 136 13 610 1992 44 20 72 135 13 651 Non-Metropolitan Counties 1989 55 25 58 137 17 1,054 1990 50 24 55 130 15 998 1991 53 25 61 139 17 895 1992 43 24 57 123 15 1,028 England and Wales 1989 49 22 60 132 16 1,960 1990 49 22 67 138 13 1,906 1991 48 23 67 138 15 1,797 1992 45 22 63 129 15 2,002 1 Based on all indictable proceedings completed in sample weeks in February, June and October of each year. 2 Youth courts from 1 October 1992.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to set targets for completion of each stage of the criminal justice process from offence to caution or completion of the court case in relation to juvenile offenders.
§ Mr. MacleanFollowing implementation of recommendations from the pre-trial issues working group, a number of such targets applying to the court process are already in place for adults as well as juveniles. In addition, there are statutory limits governing the length of time that defendants can be held in custody while on remand. I do not intend to set time limits for the issuing of cautions.