§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's initiatives for tackling persistent offenders. [136244]
§ Paul GogginsThe Persistent Offender Scheme came into effect in April 2003. It is an obligatory component of Local Criminal Justice Boards'action plans to increase the number of offences brought to justice, aimed at targeting a small group of prolific offenders who are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime. Areas have devised their own premium service protocols which include elements of proactive policing, improved investigations and case management, priority court listings, and strategies for rehabilitation. As well as targeting core persistent offenders, who are over 18 and have been convicted of six or more recordable offences in the last year, as part of their wider crime reduction strategies areas are also using the scheme flexibly to target persistent offenders defined on the basis of local intelligence.
110WThe scheme is supported by an information system which is shared between criminal justice agencies, enabling persistent offenders to be tracked as their cases progress through the criminal justice system, and attrition points in the system to be identified and targeted for intervention.
In addition, the Government have given the courts new secure remand and tagging powers for 12 to 16-year-olds who repeatedly offend on bail, funded the Youth Justice Board's intensive supervision and surveillance programmes for the most prolific young offenders and renewed its commitment to maintain the time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders at or below 71 days.