asked Her Majesty's Government:By what date they expect to achieve their pledge to halve the time from arrest to sentence of persistent young offenders to 71 days. [HL3268]

In 1996 the average time from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders was 142 days. The Government are committed to halving this by no later than March 2002. Progress so far is encouraging; the average had dropped to 106 days by December 1998. Work continues, in particular through extensions of local fast tracking schemes and the expected nationwide introduction this autumn of new case management provisions.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why in some police force areas the average number of days from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders has increased between 1997 and 1998. [HL3269]

Whilst national performance so far has been encouraging we are concerned that some areas appear to be taking longer to deal with cases. Together with the Youth Justice Board we plan to explore the reasons in more detail with the local youth justice services. We will look at the effect individual cases can have on the averages for particular areas and the operation of and need for improvement in local fast tracking schemes.