§ Mr. Peter ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what further progress has been made to reduce delays in coming to trial in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. Sir Patrick MayhewThe arrangements we have put in place in recent years to reduce delays are yielding clear benefits, although we must and will continue to seek further ways of attacking the problem.
I set out on 23 November last year, in reply to a question from the hon. Member for Belfast, South, (Rev. Martin Smyth) Official Report, columns 19–20, the results of the first year's operation of the scheme introduced in 1992 to reduce the time defendants spent on custody awaiting trial on indictment for scheduled cases. I also announced a reduction to 11 months in the overall target set by the scheme for cases to move from first remand to arraignment, the formal start of the trial, and its extension to non-scheduled cases tried on indictment.
166WI can now report on the scheme's first two years of operation, up to 30 June 1994. Overall, 86 per cent. of defendants in custody awaiting trial in scheduled cases who had reached arraignment had met the overall reduced target of 11 months; and 95 per cent. of such defendants in non-scheduled cases did so. Figures for the average time taken to process scheduled cases show a substantial improvement since the introduction of the scheme. In 1991, the last full year before its introduction, average aggregated time from first remand to arraignment for defendants remanded in custody on scheduled charges was 44 weeks; in the two years ending 30 June 1994, the average for such cases in the scheme was 35 weeks, an improvement of 20 per cent. It is too early yet to present reliable comparative figures for non-scheduled cases.
I believe that those results are much to the credit of the agencies which have operated the scheme, and we have decided to extend its life until at least the end of June next year.
The results do, however, also reflect the fact that there are a significant number of cases in Northern Ireland of a particularly complex nature, whose preparation is necessarily prolonged. Nevertheless I believe that it is important to explore all further means by which delay may be averted. My Department, in partnership with others more directly involved in the criminal justice process in Northern Ireland, is therefore investigating ways in which procedures may be further streamlined.