HC Deb 12 April 1934 vol 288 cc469-70
19. Mr. LECKIE

asked the Home Secretary whether he is satisfied with the result of the discretion given to chief constables to warn motorists reported by the police for minor infringements of the law instead of issuing summonses against them; whether he can give any statistics showing the extent to which this discretion has been utilised; and whether it has resulted in any noticeable reduction in police court motoring cases?

Sir J. GILMOUR

During the years 1929 to 1932 out of a total of 1,294,062 offences relating to motor vehicles, 940,628 cases were dealt with by prosecution while 353,434 were dealt with by police caution. It may be assumed that in at any rate a large percentage of the cases dealt with by police caution, a prosecution would otherwise have been necessary. I have no reason to be dissatisfied with the present procedure in this respect.