§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the average time an indictable offence took(a) from offence to charge or summons, (b) from charge or summons to first listing, (c) from first listing to completion and (d) from offence to completion for cases proceeding through youth courts for (i) England and Wales, (ii) each region in England and Wales and (iii) each police force area in the latest year for which figures are available. [35622]
497W
§ Mr. StreeterThe latest full year for which figures are available is 1995. The information requested is contained in the table. The table includes information on all indictable offences—both indictable only and triable either way. The source of the figures is the magistrates courts time intervals survey. This survey collects information on all defendants in indictable cases in one sample week of February, June and October each year.
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Average time taken for indicatable offences heard in the youth court by stage of proceedings and by standard region and police force area, 1995, England and Wales Average number of days Offence to charge or summons Charge or summons to first listing First listing to completion Offence to completion England and Wales 40 27 67 134 English regions and Wales North England 31 23 62 116 North West England 37 27 66 129 Yorkshire and Humberside 29 23 69 122 East Midlands 31 25 60 116 West Midlands 33 27 74 134 East Anglia 41 31 51 123 Sample size less than 100 Greater London 58 27 74 160 South East (except London) 55 30 63 148 South West 41 29 59 129 Wales 28 28 68 123 Police force area Avon and Somerset 61 24 48 134 Sample size less than 100 Bedfordshire * * * * Sample size less than 25 Cambridgeshire * * * * Sample size less than 25 Cheshire 39 28 69 135 Sample size less than 100 Cleveland 27 24 70 122 Sample size less than 100 Cumbria 46 25 32 103 Sample size less than 100 Derbyshire 38 30 55 122 Sample size less than 100 Devon and Cornwall 35 31 47 113 Sample size less than 100 Dorset * * * * Sample size less than 25 Durham 42 21 55 118 Sample size less than 100 Dyfed-Powys * * * * Sample size less than 25 Essex 39 30 44 114 Sample size less than 100 Gloucestershire 37 24 72 134 Sample size less than 100 Greater Manchester 25 24 62 112 Gwent 36 24 49 110 Sample size less than 100 Hampshire 67 28 63 159 Hertfordshire 46 38 62 145 Sample size less than 100 Humberside 40 13 67 120 Sample size less than 100 Kent 72 30 63 164 Sample size less than 100 Lancashire 51 28 62 140 Sample size less than 100 Leicestershire 33 22 92 148 Sample size less than 100 Lincolnshire 38 28 44 110 Sample size less than 100 Merseyside 45 29 74 148 Metropolitan 58 27 74 160 Norfolk 35 27 54 117 Sample size less than 100 North Wales 14 28 74 116 Sample size less than 100 North Yorkshire 46 27 40 113 Sample size less than 100 Northamptonshire * * * * Sample size less than 25 Northumbria 24 23 67 114 Nottinghamshire 21 23 53 97 South Wales 30 27 70 127 South Yorkshire 35 28 66 129 Sample size less than 100 Staffordshire 36 27 71 134 Suffolk * * * * Sample size less than 25 Surrey 57 35 64 156 Sample size less than 100 Sussex 45 28 81 154 Sample size less than 100 Thames Valley 40 27 62 129 Sample size less than 100 Warwickshire 29 22 55 106 Sample size less than 100 West Mercia 32 31 44 107 Sample size less than 100 West Midlands 33 28 110 172 West Yorkshire 18 23 79 119 Wiltshire 29 35 57 122 Sample size less than 100 Caution needs to be exercised when comparing figures from different areas because sampling error in the figures could make any conclusions invalid. This is especially true for areas where the sample size was less than 100. The figure for areas with a sample size of less than 25 have been omitted as the level of sampling error makes them unreliable and potentially misleading.
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