§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the upper limit to nullify the effects of unusually lengthy cases used in the time intervals surveys conducted by the Lord Chancellor's Department was not used in the calculation of his benchmark figure of 142 days from arrest to sentencing for persistent young offenders; and if he will estimate the impact on that figure of using such a limit. [70811]
§ Mr. BoatengThe benchmark figure of 142 days from arrest to sentence in persistent young offender cases was calculated on the basis of a special exercise, which drew a sample of cases from the Police National Computer (Phoenix). Phoenix does not exclude cases on the basis of their length. The Government's pledge is to halve the time from arrest to sentence for all persistent young offenders. A minority of cases may be protracted for reasons outside the control of case management, such as the illness of the defendant or a key witness. However, it is essential that unnecessary delay should be removed from all cases, regardless of their complexity or the exceptional circumstances that may arise. For that reason, the Government consider it appropriate for the benchmark figure to be based on all cases.