§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Attorney-General if he will list the number of cases discontinued, by area, by the Crown Prosecution Service; and if he will break them down by type of offence, for the last 12 months.
§ The Attorney-GeneralDuring the 12-month period ending 31 March 1988, a total of 109,580 defendants had the cases against them wholly discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service, either under the formal provisions of section 23 of the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1985, (under which section proceedings may be discontinued at an early stage by written notice to the magistrates court and to the defendant, without any further court hearing) or by no evidence being offered at court. The table shows the figures for each area. Records of the figures broken down by type of offence are not maintained, and the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
During the same 12-month period, a total of 57,760 cases were referred by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service for advice prior to any charges being made. In a significant proportion of these cases, the Crown Prosecution Service advised that no proceedings should be instituted.
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Cases discontinued Area April—June 1987 July—Sept 1987 Oct—Dec 1987 Jan—March 1988 Total Avon-Somerset 589 553 503 493 2,138 Bedfordshire-Hertfordshire 682 407 475 378 1,942 Cambridgeshire-Lincolnshire 374 432 480 497 1,783 Cheshire 376 384 440 554 1,754 Derbyshire 746 332 308 403 1,789 Devon-Cornwall 765 815 647 610 2,837 Dorset-Hampshire 918 933 1,086 1,176 4,113 Essex 757 631 587 933 2,908 Gloucestershire-Wiltshire 475 607 589 624 2,295 Humberside 144 195 301 379 1,019 Kent 1,134 945 695 1,024 3,798 Lancashire-Cumbria 1,017 1,143 1,085 1,135 4,380 Leicestershire-Northamptonshire 925 776 647 670 3,018 London Inner 1,522 1,682 1,934 2,070 7,208 London North 974 1,167 1,354 1,400 4,895 London South 1,280 1,365 1,539 1,565 5,749 Manchester 1,399 1,528 1,520 1,802 6,249 Merseyside 898 1,210 1,165 1,142 4,415 North Wales-Dyfed 460 562 587 640 2,249 North Yorkshire-Cleveland 443 547 666 734 2,390 Northumbria-Durham 982 1,335 1,133 1,209 4,659 Nottinghamshire 128 183 200 283 794 South Wales-Gwent 1,762 1,729 1,711 1,808 7,010 South Yorkshire 530 492 769 692 2,483 Staffordshire-Warwickshire 642 569 716 1,010 2,937 Suffolk-Norfolk 798 633 525 622 2,578 Sussex 1,202 1,071 1,113 1,236 4,622 Thames Valley 366 668 722 828 2,584 West Mercia 454 535 492 571 2,052 West Midlands 411 767 576 699 2,453 West Yorkshire 2,214 2,256 2,569 2,610 9,649 Grand total 25,367 26,452 27,134 29,797 108,750