§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average time between a stalking complaint being made to the police and a prosecution being brought. [10368]
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§ Mr. MichaelInformation is not held centrally on the time taken by the police to investigate reported breaches of the criminal law. The length of time taken to conduct an investigation will vary depending on the circumstances of the case. There are non-statutory time guidelines agreed by all the criminal justice agencies that cover each stage of the process from granting of police bail to commencement of a Crown court trial. Where a person is granted police bail with a duty to return to the police station, the maximum time guideline is three weeks unless a protracted investigation or other compelling consideration is involved. The Government are determined to cut delays in the criminal justice system, starting with a speeding up of youth justice.
The new criminal offences created by the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 came into force on 16 June 1997 and it is too soon to make any assessment of the time taken to deal with offences under the Act.