HL Deb 05 May 1971 vol 318 cc447-50WA
LORD CONESFORD

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What will be the constitution of the Circuits after the introduction of the new court system.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR (LORD HAILSHAM OF ST. MARYLEBONE)

I have considered the representations received following the Answer which I gave on December 16, 1970 [H.L. Rep., Vol. 313, No. 38, col. 1503] when I announced my provisional proposals for the reconstitution of the Circuits after the appointed day under the Courts Bill, which is expected to be January 1, 1972. The Bill is now awaiting Royal Assent. I have decided that some slight changes in those proposals are necessary in the counties of Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and I am notifying the local authorities concerned. The constitution of the Circuits, after the coming into operation of the new court system, will accordingly be as follows:

North Eastern:

Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire.

Northern:

Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, parts of Derbyshire (Glossop Petty Sessional Division and parts of Chapel en le Frith P.S.D., comprising New Mills and Whaley Bridge Urban Districts) and parts of Cheshire (Birkenhead, Wallasey, Stockport, Stockport Borough, Hyde, Dukinfield and Stalybridge P.S.D.s).

Midland and Oxford:

Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northampton-shire, Huntingdon and Peterborough, Derbyshire (except those parts shown in the Northern Circuit), Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, parts of Buckinghamshire (Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford and Fenny Stratford P.S.D.s) Oxfordshire (except Henley P.S.D.), and parts of Berkshire (Abingdon and Abingdon Borough P.S.D.'s).

South Eastern:

Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Buckinghamshire (except those parts shown in the Midland Circuit), part of Oxfordshire (Henley P.S.D. only), Berkshire (except Abingdon, Abingdon Borough and Faringdon P.S.D.s), Greater London, Surrey, Sussex, Kent.

Wales and Chester:

Wales, Monmouthshire and Cheshire (except those parts shown in the Northern Circuit).

Western:

Gloucestershire, part of Berkshire (Faringdon P.S.D.), Bristol, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

House adjourned at twelve minutes past seven o'clock.