§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of whether the time from arrest of persistent young offenders to their sentencing will be down to 71 days by March. [47408]
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§ Beverley HughesIn 1996, dealing with a persistent young offender took an average of 142 days. We have reached our target of halving this to 71 days. In the last two quarters the number of days was 70 and 68 respectively. This shows what can be achieved with good local and national co-ordination and a determined focus on achieving the objective. We will continue our work to ensure that this progress is maintained.