§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken between arrest and sentencing of(a) young offenders and (b) adult offenders was in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [42505]
§ Mr. WillsI have been asked to reply. Information is not available in the exact form requested. Figures are available on the average time between arrest and sentence for "persistent" young offenders in England and Wales, as used to monitor the Youth Justice Pledge to halve the average time from arrest to sentence. The latest data available shows that for those sentenced in magistrates courts and the Crown court in the 12 months ending 30 November 2001, the latest month available, the average arrest to sentence time was 77 days. For those 403W sentenced in November 2001 the average arrest to sentence time was 67 days compared with the target of 71 days.
From another source of information the time between arrest and sentence can he estimated for all young offenders sentenced in magistrates courts in England and Wales. For the 12 months ending September 2001, this estimate was 60 days. Similarly for adult offenders the time between charge (the closest available date to arrest) and sentence in magistrates courts was 58 days.