Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time between a young offender being charged and their (a) trial if they have pleaded not guilty and (b) sentencing hearing where they have pleaded guilty has been in each year since 2010.

Data available does not allow the question to be answered with two simple measures as offences can be sentenced at either the Youth court (magistrates’) or Crown court. The attached tables provide figures on the average (both mean and median) number of days from:

• Charge to start of trial at Youth (magistrate’s) court, for youths pleading not guilty (Table A)
• Charge to main hearing at Crown Court, for youths pleading not guilty (Table B)
• Charge to completion for Youth (magistrates’) court cases for youths pleading guilty (Table C)
• Charge to main hearing at Crown Court, for youths pleading guilty (Table D)