§ Lord Christopherasked Her Majesty's Government:
(a) what records are maintained of the lapse of time between a Probation Officer's decision to deliver an offender serving a community sentence in England and Wales to court and the offender's appearance in court; and (b) what is the pattern of delay shown by any such data. [HL2786]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonNational standards for the supervision of offenders in the community set down time limits which require probation services to instigate breach proceedings, where appropriate, within 10 days of a failure to comply with the requirements of a community sentence. Information is not normally collected on the time taken between proceedings being initiated and the offender appearing in court. But we have recently conducted a very limited exercise in order to obtain information in this area. The results are still being analysed. I will write to the noble Lord with the results when they are available.