§ 27. Mr. John GreenwayTo ask the Attorney-General what action he has taken and proposes to take in response to the recent report of the Select Committee on Home Affairs on the future of the Crown prosecution service.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Government's response to each recommendation of the Select Committee on Home Affairs was laid before the House on 17 July this year. Good progress is being made in implementing the many recommendations that have been accepted.
§ Mr. GreenwayThe Crown prosecution service has a formidable workload. Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that, in the light of the Government's proposals for community sentencing, we can divert more young offenders from courts by the use of cautions? Does he further agree that if, as the Committee recommended, we could extend the use of cautions to allow the police to administer penalties, such as reparation or compensation for damage or theft from victims, that would not only strengthen the deterrent effect of community service and cautions but divert young offenders from the courts and reduce the workload of the CPS?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Government recognise the value of cautioning in appropriate cases. One advance since the Government gave their response to the report of the Select Committee on Home Affairs was the issuing of a Home Office circular on national standards for cautioning. My hon. Friend raises a separate and extra question about penalties being imposed by the police. He will recall that that was dealt with in our response. Policy is a matter for the Home Secretary, but our response said that penalties were not for the police but for the courts.
§ Mr. VazThe Solicitor-General will recall that in oral evidence to the inquiry the Director of Public Prosecutions made the astonishing claim that members of the police force at all levels were obstructing the work of the Crown prosecution service. Have any discussions taken place between himself and the Home Secretary about those claims? Has co-operation between the police and the CPS improved since that report?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI remember fairly well reading of the part played by the hon. Gentleman during the oral hearings. I did not take part in them, so I am not sure what he is talking about.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI read the hon. Gentleman's words—they were fairly extensive, as usual. The interdepartmental working group on pre-trial issues, which is examining the crucial working arrangements between the police and the CPS, is maintaining its tight timetable and will report to the Director shortly.
§ Mr. HoltA 73-year-old constituent of mine was knocked down on a zebra crossing between her church and her church hall. Although the CPS knew that the driver was speeding at the time, it did not bring sufficiently serious charges for the matter to be dealt with by the High Court. The magistrates decided, in their infinite wisdom, to impose a fine and allowed the points that would 323 automatically have taken the taxi driver into disqualification to be taken concurrently with the penalties applying to his previous offences so that he was not disqualified from driving. If such actions are allowed to continue, will not faith in the CPS be totally eroded?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI understand my hon. Friend's anxiety about particular cases, but I invite the House to remember that we live in a society in which prosecutions are a matter for the independent prosecuting authorities and penalties are wholly a matter for the independent courts which try each case.