HC Deb 18 January 1999 vol 323 c326W
19. Mr. Corbett

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he is making in achieving his target of halving the time between young offenders committing an offence and appearing in court. [64368]

Mr. Anthony D. Wright

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress is being made in halving the time between serious youth offenders committing a crime and appearing in court. [64357]

Mr. Boateng

In 1996 the average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders was 142 days. We are committed to halving that time by March 2002. We took early action on coming to office to begin the process of change.

There are now over 150 fast tracking schemes in operation covering almost half of all courts in England and Wales. Provisions in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 were brought into force on 30 September last year to enable the courts to manage cases more quickly and efficiently. Other measures are currently being piloted with national implementation planned for October this year.

The Government have set demanding performance targets for all stages of proceedings up to and after trial and for all youth justice agencies.