§ Lord Windleshamasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made to implement the 1997 Labour Party election manifesto pledge to halve the time between the arrest and sentencing of persistent young offenders; and when it is forecast that the pledge will be redeemed. [HL608]
§ Lord Williams of MostynIn 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 achieve this target. There are now over 150 youth courts operating fast tracking schemes, nearly half of all the youth courts in England and Wales. Provisions in the Crime and Disorder Act 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 165WA implementation planned for October this year. The Government have also set demanding performance targets for all stages of proceedings up to and after trial and for all youth justice agencies.