§ 33. Mr. LuffTo ask the Attorney-General if he will pay an official visit to the Crown Prosecution Service in Hereford and Worcester to discuss its performance.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralMy right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General last visited offices of the Crown Prosecution Service in the Severn-Thames area, of which Hereford and Worcester is a part, in November of last year and will be visiting another office in the same area next month.
§ Mr. LuffDuring those visits to Crown Prosecution Service offices, has my right hon. and learned Friend had his attention drawn to the fact that discontinuance rates are falling sharply all around the country? Should not that development be warmly welcomed?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralMy hon. Friend is quite right. Not only are discontinuances falling, but case loads are rising. The number of discontinuances fell from about 193,000 in 1992 to 175,000 last year. The number of cases received has risen in the magistrates court for the quarter ending March 1994 by 1.7 per cent. and in the Crown court by 2.4 per cent.