§ Mr. HuttonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the powers to make statutory instruments exercisable by the Secretary of State under primary legislation enacted since 1979 are subject to(a) the negative and (b)the affirmative resolution procedure. [9597]
Magistrates' Courts case April-September 1995 Received Finalised Of which, advice only Completed in Magistrates' Courts Discontinued Committed to Crown Court Other disposals Other proceedings North 47,741 46,710 1,625 32,255 6,247 2,934 2,767 882 Yorkshire 42,041 42,335 1,052 28,072 6,299 2,975 3,582 355 Mersey/Lancashire 43,786 41,667 1,555 29,034 4,030 3,512 2,884 652 Humber 34,750 35,553 1,802 23,649 4,886 2,440 2,005 771 North-West 57,334 57,351 2,064 40,333 4,340 3,938 3,349 3,327 East Midlands 43,407 37,970 1,246 25,808 5,457 2,502 2,710 247 Wales 46,442 46,173 1,840 30,944 5,378 2,673 4,372 1,000 Midlands 52,012 52,054 2,565 34,674 5,404 3,779 4,472 1,160 Anglia 53,276 53,013 3,760 36,916 4,866 2,941 3,258 1,272 Severn/Thames 46,947 46,639 2,324 31,387 5,120 2,350 4,470 988 South-West 39,377 34,391 1,198 24,359 3,717 2,103 2,723 291 London 120,741 121,873 3,281 70,928 15,700 8,626 22,030 1,308 South-East 53,621 51,684 2,579 36,136 5,078 3,545 3,987 359 Total 681,475 667,413 26,891 444,495 76,522 44,318 62,609 12,612 Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant could not be found, and other cases where the prosecution could not proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).
Other proceedings comprise non-criminal proceedings, such as forfeiture hearings under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act.
§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Attorney-General when the internal review of the functions of the Crown Prosecution Service was established; what is its terms of reference; by whom it is being conducted; and when its conclusions will be reported to Parliament. [8460]
§ The Attorney-GeneralA number of important reviews of the work of the CPS were concluded last year. These included: a report on the merits and feasibility of merger between the CPS fraud divisions and the Serious Fraud Office; a prior options study in the context of the Government's initiative on next steps; and a senior management review. I reported to Parliament the outcome of the merger study and of the prior options study on 31 March 1995,Official Report, columns 1309–17, and 27 October 1995, Official Report, columns 820–21, respectively. On the Senior management review, the CPS,
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