Delays in bringing young offenders, 10 - 17 year olds, before the courts is causing problems. A principal difficulty is the high level of re-offending in the interim period.
The average time taken to deal with a persistent young offender, from arrest to sentence, was cut from 142 in 1997 to 106 days and the target is cut it further to 71 days. There are wide variations within the figures and Home Secretary Jack Straw has said that some agencies need to raise their game. 

Successful completion of a two year electronic form project has opened the digital door for communicating with public bodies. Traditionally, Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise and Contributions Agency have required six forms to be completed for business start-ups. The project reduced this to one electronic form.
The electronic form was a joint project between departments, EDS, Microsoft and NatWest bank. The form was digitally signed using smartcard technology provided by NatWest.