To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time to fast track young offenders through the courts in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk, (c) Essex and (d) Cambridgeshire was in each year since 1997. [104799]
The average number of days from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders in England and Wales, from 1997 to 2002, for the Criminal Justice Areas of Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire is listed in the table along with the corresponding national averages.
Area 1
| 1997
| 1998
| 1999
| 2000
| 2001
| 2002
|
| Norfolk | 107 | 110 | 92 | 78 | 63 | 72 |
| Suffolk | 154 | 132 | 110 | 81 | 77 | 74 |
| England and Wales | 141 | 125 | 108 | 93 | 76 | 69 |
1 The area classification is based on the police force that investigated the offence and entered the charge or summons details on the Police National Computer. In a small proportion of cases prosecution and court proceedings may have been in different areas. | ||||||