To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the average period between arrest and sentencing for persistent young offenders in each of the last 10 years. Figures for earlier years are not available. 5,000 copies have been printed. Copies were distributed at the North of England Education Conference in Wigan on 6 January 2000. Other copies have been distributed to interested parties on demand.
Copies are available to others on request and are free of charge.
The Department is working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and with others, on how to take this initiative forward, including the matters mentioned by the hon. We expect to make further announcements in due course. To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the minimum number of sixth form students necessary for an 11 to 18 school effectively to implement Curriculum 2000. A range of circumstances, of which student numbers is only one, will affect the ways in which schools and colleges implement the reforms. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has published detailed curriculum guidance on the reforms covering a range of relevant factors, including the size of the institution.