My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Bridget Prentice) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The following list of key performance indicators has been set for Her Majesty’s Courts Service for 2010 to 2011:

to commence at least 78 per cent of cases within the following timescales in the Crown Court:

cases that are sent for trial within 26 weeks of sending;

cases that are committed for trial within 16 weeks of committal;

appeals within 14 weeks of the appeal being lodged; and

cases that are committed for sentence within 10 weeks of committal.

to speed up criminal cases in the magistrates’ courts so that, for charged cases, the average time from charge to disposal is less than six weeks;

time taken to produce and send court results to the police:

95 per cent of court registers produced and despatched within three working days; and

100 per cent of court registers produced and despatched within six working days.

to achieve an 85 per cent payment rate for financial penalties in the magistrates’ courts;

for 60 per cent of all breached community penalties to be resolved within 25 working days of the relevant failure to comply;

to increase the proportion of defended small claims that are completed otherwise than by court hearing to 65 per cent;

to increase the proportion of defended small claims that are completed (from receipt to final hearing) within 30 weeks to at least 70 per cent;

percentage of care and supervision cases that achieve a final outcome for the child within 30, 50 and 80 weeks:

at least 26 per cent dealt with within 30 weeks;

at least 66 per cent dealt with within 50 weeks; and

at least 92 per cent dealt with within 80 weeks;

to maintain the “very satisfied” element of the HMCS court user satisfaction survey at or above the 2007-08 baseline of 41 per cent.

More information on these and other key supporting targets are published in the HM Courts Service business plan for 2010-11. Copies of the business plan for 2010-11 have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.