Young Offenders: Interval between Arrest and Sentence

HL Deb 01 December 1997 vol 583 cc149-50WA

Lord Morris of Castle Morris

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How long it takes from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders, and for other young offenders.

Lord Williams of Mostyn

Information on the time between arrest and sentence for young offenders is not available from historical records, as the previous

Government did not collect data on time intervals from arrest. However, we have recently completed a survey of persistent young offenders dealt with by the youth justice system in 1996. That survey indicates that in 1996 the average time between arrest and sentence for persistent young offenders was 142 days.

An Audit Commission survey of 600 young offenders in 1996 suggests that the average time between arrest and sentence for all young offenders was 121 days¹. The Time Intervals Survey, published by the Lord Chancellor's Department, indicates that in 1996 the average time from offence to completion for defendants in indictable cases dealt with by the Youth Court was 131 days². The White Paper No More Excuses—A New Approach to Tackling Youth Crime in England and Wales erroneously stated in paragraph 7.1 that this figure of 131 days was the average interval between arrest and sentence for a young offender.

We are ensuring that systems are put in place to monitor the time between arrest and sentence in the future for persistent young offenders and other young offenders.

¹Audit Commission, Misspent Youth: Young People and Crime, November 1996.

²Time intervals for criminal proceedings in the magistrates' courts,Lord Chancellor's Department, March 1997 (Issue 1/97).