§ Mr. StephenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make it his policy to work towards the appointment of stipendiary magistrates in every town with a population exceeding 70,000.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe Lord Chancellor has no plans to work towards the appointment of stipendiary magistrates in every town with a population exceeding 70,000. Stipendiary magistrate appointments are to commission areas and the Lord Chancellor will consider such appointments normally when he receives requests from those local areas and he considers that the workload warrants that course. The Lord Chancellor has full confidence in the ability of the lay magistracy to cope with the bulk of work. The purpose of stipendiary appointments is to support the lay magistracy.