§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the proposed timelines and targets set by each local Criminal Justice Board for the reduction of the time from arrest to sentence. [130483]
§ Paul GogginsAll Local Criminal Justice Boards are expected to continue to work towards meeting and maintaining the Government's objective to halve the average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders in England and Wales from 142 days (1996) to 71 days. The average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders in England and Wales was 64 days for the second quarter of 2003—the eighth consecutive quarter at or below the 71 day target. Current Persistent Young Offenders (PYO) performance for each Local Criminal Justice Board is set out in the table (Table A) and further details are available at www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk/PractitionersPostal/PracticeAnd Performance/Performance.
Locally, since April 2003 when the Boards were formally established, each Board has set itself individual adult and youth targets for improving general timeliness in the magistrates courts, with separate Crown court targets for different types of cases. These have been set in the context of the overall delivery of the Criminal Justice Systems (CJS's) Public Service Agreements and in the magistrates courts are expressed in terms of charge to completion. Targets for each area are set out in the table (Table B). Performance data from April-June 2003, is due to be published in October 2003.
Table A April–June 2003 Force AS Number of cases National 64 6,296 Avon and Somerset 61 108 Bedfordshire 44 27 Cambridgeshire 43 82 1220W
Table B Magistrates court Crown court Adult Youth TARGETS 2003/04 PYO Initial Guilty Plea Trials Committals Initial Guilty Plea Trials Committals Committal for trial (%) Sent for trial (%) Committal for sentence trial (%) Sent for appeal (%) England and Wales 71 Avon and Somerset 71 57 142 84 54 121 95 1— 1— 1— 1— Bedfordshire 71 36 175 86 49 121 85 78 78 78 78 Cambridgeshire 71 49 145 86 49 119 85 78 78 78 78 Cheshire 71 46 123 98 41 108 98 78 78 78 78 Cleveland 71 50 141 86 49 99 85 80 80 80 80 Cumbria 71 42 112 84 42 98 70 1— 1— 1— 1— Derbyshire 71 54 130 102 56 140 98 82 85 92 93 Devon and Cornwall 71 40 128 76 46 121 92 78 78 78 78 Dorset 71 48 182 86 46 112 68 78 78 78 78 Durham 71 37 111 90 24 85 55 78 78 78 78 Dyfed Powys 71 38 126 72 44 78 85 78 78 78 78 Essex 71 50 127 86 40 106 76 78 78 78 78 Gloucestershire 71 50 140 85 45 110 80 80 85 90 90 Greater Manchester 71 42 136 84 49 121 85 62 72 80 85 Gwent 71 1— 1— 1— 49 121 85 78 78 78 78 Hampshire 71 35 148 69 42 115 83 78 78 78 78 Hertfordshire 71 45 145 86 44 121 62 78 78 78 78 Humberside 71 50 150 85 49 120 85 1— 1— 1— 1— Kent 71 4o 140 80 40 115 80 1— 1— 1— 1— Lancashire 71 50 145 86 49 121 85 70 78 80 85 Leicestershire 71 41 130 84 47 108 69 78 78 78 78 Lincolnshire 71 47 145 86 49 121 58 78 78 78 78 London 71 47 145 65 49 121 77 78 78 78 78
Table A April–June 2003 Force AS Number of cases Cheshire 55 95 Cleveland 57 88 Cumbria 53 93 Derbyshire 91 90 Devon and Cornwall 48 120 Dorset 76 58 Durham 60 102 Dyfed-Powys 31 51 Essex 79 94 Gloucestershire 40 41 Greater Manchester 67 474 Gwent 64 78 Hampshire 65 314 Hertfordshire 49 58 Humberside 89 130 Kent 67 189 Lancashire 52 240 Leicestershire 66 106 Lincolnshire 79 78 Merseyside 89 257 Metropolitan 75 453 Norfolk 70 72 North Wales 43 110 North Yorkshire 76 79 Northamptonshire 68 71 Northumbria 70 384 Nottinghamshire 59 150 South Wales 63 259 South Yorkshire 73 164 Staffordshire 46 147 Suffolk 40 91 Surrey 74 48 Sussex 55 121 Thames Valley 64 147 Warwickshire 43 41 West Mercia 59 129 West Midlands 51 436 West Yorkshire 65 331 Wiltshire 68 36 British Transport Police 75 54 Note:
This table shows the latest available PYO arrest-to-sentence figures for each Criminal Justice Area.
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Table B Magistrates court Crown court Adult Youth TARGETS 2003/04 PYO Initial Guilty Plea Trials Committals Initial Guilty Plea Trials Committals Committal for trial (%) Sent for trial (%) Committal for sentence trial (%) Sent for appeal (%) Merseyside 71 52 140 80 40 110 80 81 83 91 96 Norfolk 71 38 110 62 37 98 70 78 78 78 78 Northamptonshire 71 50 145 86 49 121 62 78 78 78 78 Northumbria 71 28 112 84 28 112 70 1— 1— 1— 1— North Wales 71 36 104 90 45 102 67 90 92 90 93 North Yorkshire 71 42 130 86 42 90 72 78 78 78 78 Nottinghamshire 71 49 144 69 48 114 84 78 78 78 78 South Wales 71 50 128 84 42 92 60 78 78 78 78 South Yorkshire 71 54 138 98 57 117 102 78 78 78 78 Staffordshire 71 50 129 86 44 90 85 78 78 78 78 Suffolk 71 50 142 71 49 101 78 78 78 78 78 Surrey 71 45 140 86 44 100 45 78 78 78 78 Sussex 71 50 145 86 41 121 82 1— 1— 1— 1— Thames Valley 71 50 145 86 46 109 85 1— 1— 1— 1— Warwickshire 71 50 117 85 46 99 85 78 78 78 78 West Mercia 71 42 155 125 45 118 85 78 78 78 78 West Midlands 71 42 112 70 42 112 70 78 78 78 78 West Yorkshire 71 48 128 84 45 116 84 78 78 78 78 Wiltshire 71 47 120 108 42 98 0 78 78 78 78 1denotes no area target set
Notes:
Persistent Young Offenders—Targets are based on average time in days from arrest to sentence
Timeliness in Magistrates courts—Targets are based on 80 per cent. of defendants charged with crime to be dealt within the number of days shown from charge to disposal.
Timeliness in Crown courts—Targets are the percentage of defendants to be dealt with within National Targets from committal to first hearing
Crown Court National targets are: Committals for trial, 16 weeks; Sent for trial cases, 26 weeks; Committals for sentence, 10 weeks; Appeals, 14 weeks
These figures have been updated recently and may differ slightly from previously published figures
Awaiting clarification from Gwent on Adult timeliness targets