Q28 Mr. Dave Anderson: Secretary of State, you know the report you made last year and you know the points I am going to raise because I have raised them on the floor of the House with you, so I make no apologies for raising them again. What is being done in regard to progress about people being held on remand?

Mr Woodward: I am actually going to ask Mr Perry to comment specifically around this area, but if I may just make one or two brief remarks on this. We are making progress on it. This is an area which I have been concerned about and I have asked the Security Minister, particularly in light of the work we have been doing on the stage two talks over the last month or two, to take a lead on this, but I do think we need to actually do something to address this issue which this Committee has rightly raised. It is not just a question of the speed of those on remand, it is who is on remand, which is why it was important to begin to deal with the issue of fine defaulters, but perhaps Mr Perry might like to just adumbrate a little further.

Mr Perry: Just on the general point, Mr Anderson, as you know, Paul Goggins has set up a Delay Action Team, which has all the relevant departments on it, to look at ways of reducing delay in the criminal justice system at large, including the remand side, and certainly for the statutory agencies there are set targets to meet. Today in Belfast a new group, the Criminal Justice Issues group, chaired by a senior member of the judiciary is meeting and one of the issues it has on its agenda is the whole issue of delay. It is right at the top of the Chief Justice's agenda as well as Paul Goggins's, so there is a great deal of evidence going into it and Mr Goggins meets the Delay Action Team on a quarterly basis to check progress and the trends are positive.

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Promoted by Paul Foy on behalf of Dave Anderson, both of St Cuthbert's Church Hall, Shibdon Road, Blaydon, NE21 5PT