§ Sir Nicholas LyellTo ask the Attorney-General if he will update the information contained in tables 1, 2, and 3 of his Department's answer of 10 March 1997,Official Report, columns 81–82, to include (a) the year ending March 1997, (b) the calendar year 1997 and (c) the most recent months for which figures are available; if such figures are now maintained in relation to each of the new Crown Prosecution Service areas; if he will publish in the Official Report, such figures as are available for the period since 1 April 1997; and if he will make a statement. [32568]
The Attorney-GeneralTable 1 shows the number of defendants whose case was received from the police during the year ending March 1997, the year ending December 1997, and the quarter ending December 1997. The figures are inclusive of non-criminal proceedings and of cases in which the Service advised the police pre-charge.
Table 2 shows the number of cases completed by the Service in magistrates' courts for these periods, and the way in which they were finalised. Pre-charge advice cases and non-criminal proceedings are identified separately. The remainder of finalised cases are divided into those discontinued before the first court hearing; discontinuances at the first hearing and subsequent to the first hearing, but before trial; cases written off; those resulting in a bind over to keep the peace; committals to the Crown Court; proceedings discharged at a committal hearing; and cases heard in magistrates' courts. Hearings are inclusive of guilty pleas as well as cases proceeding to a contested hearing after a plea of not guilty.
Table 3 shows the number of proportion of hearings resulting in conviction and in dismissal in magistrates' courts.
Tables, 4, 5 and 6 show the same information for each of the 42 proposed new Crown Prosecution Service Areas for the period April-December 1997. This information is provisional until such time as the new structure of the Crown Prosecution Service becomes operational.
The number of cases handled by the Service has increased slightly over the last year for which figures are available: during the year ending December 1997, receipts increased by 3% and finalisations increased by 3.9%.
During 1997, a total of 161,461 cases were discontinued. This amounted to 12.2% of completed cases, compared with 12% during 1996. The overall level of discontinuance fell from 13.3% in 1992, and has remained little changed at around 12% for the last four years. The scope for further falls is dependent of the police not beginning cases where the evidence is incomplete.
770WThe number of cases discontinued is not determined solely, or even primarily, by the judgment of lawyers. The Crown Prosecution Service has no choice but to discontinue cases when witnesses fail to appear, reuse to give evidence, or change their story; when defendants produce driving documents proving their innocence; when evidence must be excluded because of irregularities in its collection; and when gaps in the prosecution case cannot be plugged by the police. About half of all cases discontinued are estimated to fall into these categories.
Where a case must be discontinued, an early decision avoids the commitment of time and resources to proceedings in which there is no realistic prospect of conviction. Discontinuance before the first hearing fell slightly from 10.2% of all discontinuance in 1996 to 9.1% in 1997, and future progress in securing early decisions is dependent on improvements in the timeliness and quality of police files.
There is no connection between discontinuance and write offs. The latter is an administrative process carried out when the case cannot proceed, for example because the defendant cannot be traced by the police or because a warrant for the defendant's arrest remains unexecuted. When the defendant is eventually arrested, the prosecution can then continue.
Convictions have remained consistently high at around 98% of all cases proceeding to a hearing. During the year ending December 1997, 98.1% of hearings resulted in a conviction, inclusive of guilty pleas, compared with 98% for the previous year. The high level of convictions supports the view that the Crown Prosecution Service has succeeded in identifying cases in which the balance of evidence weighs in favour of prosecution, and has pursued them effectively in the courts.
Crown Prosecution Service Case Numbers and Outcomes Table 1: Crown Prosecution Service receipts Year Received in magistrates' courts Year ending March 1997 1,344,184 Year ending December 1997 1,388,474 October-December 1997 347,466 771W
Table 2: Crown Prosecution Service completed cases in Magistrates' Courts Year ending Year ending October— Cases March 1997 December 1997 December 1997 Finalised 1,330,317 1,387,557 352,511 Advice 45,216 48,316 14,853 Non-criminal proceedings 12,808 11,461 2,814 Discontinued before 1st hearing 13,742 13,054 3,189 Discontinued before trial 140,649 148,406 37,328 Write off 98,795 92,930 24,733 Bind over 20,941 22,747 5,802 Committed to Crown Court 98,661 106,269 25,921 Discharged at committal 1,911 1,711 354 Hearing in magistrates' courts 897,596 942,665 237,517
Table 3: Crown Prosecution Service case outcomes Year Convicted Per cent. Dismissed Per cent. Year ending March1997 884,767 98 17,769 2 Year ending December 1997 928,902 98.1 18,323 1.9 October-December 1997 234,237 98.2 4,398 1.8
Table 4: 42 Area receipts April-December 1997 Area Received in magistrates' courts Avon and Somerset 24,459 Bedfordshire 11,288 Cambridgeshire 13,267 Devon and Cornwall 22,732 Dorset 10,483 Essex 21,870 Gloucestershire 11,952 Hampshire 29,476 Hertfordshire 13,545 Kent 23,735 Metropolitan and City 151,697 Norfolk 13,339 Staffordshire 22,783 Suffolk 9,550 Surrey 9,701 Sussex 23,378 772W
Table 5: 42 Area completed cases in magistrates courts April-December 1997 Area Finalised Advice Non-riminal proceedings Discontinued before 1st hearing Discontinued before trial Write off Bind over Committed to Crown Court Discharged at Committal Heard in magistrates'courts Avon & Somerset 24.652 659 104 177 2,748 2,176 174 1,937 21 16,656 Bedfordshire 11,493 607 0 59 1,345 470 224 861 26 7,901 Cambridgeshire 13,149 359 1 65 1,232 497 189 939 15 9,852 Devon & Cornwall 222,727 729 38 212 2,529 762 361 1,762 11 16,323 Dorset 10,589 214 0 271 1,014 490 33 682 1 7,864 Essex 21,944 527 0 167 2,283 2,039 408 1,611 32 14,877 Gloucestershire 11,956 888 117 105 1,727 563 51 574 5 7,516 Hampshire 13,251 611 30 105 2,481 2,138 175 2,541 50 22,122 Hertfordshire 13,070 341 7 323 1,418 899 60 863 24 9,135 Kent 23,307 589 327 519 2,536 894 441 2,074 7 15,920 Metropolitan & City 155,135 5,021 78 1,214 17,553 19,635 1,118 13,168 300 97,048 Norfolk 13,508 976 0 142 1,241 260 126 896 15 9,852 Staffordshire 22,002 1,088 64 207 2,958 894 557 1,620 19 14,955 Suffolk 9,864 600 0 122 814 490 83 761 34 6,960 Surrey 9,709 246 71 165 830 769 129 645 1 6,853 Sussex 23,403 1,712 276 177 2,511 1,852 290 1,510 23 15,052 Thames Valley 32,075 1,659 218 152 3,315 3,751 519 1,723 27 20,711 Warwickshire 6,950 211 0 112 424 363 89 404 0 5,347 West Mercia 16,572 480 115 108 1,585 838 200 1,177 20 12,009 West Midlands 58,902 1,989 212 293 6,565 5,479 2,333 4,718 39 37,274 Wiltshire 11,621 757 139 186 794 855 90 484 0 8,316 Cheshire 18,243 1,290 66 130 1,108 608 294 1,632 17 13.098 Cleveland 13,982 400 0 87 1,763 413 333 1,166 18 9,802 Cumbria 14,169 427 0 157 1,211 273 224 618 12 11,247 Derbyshire 14,200 536 1 361 1,448 608 222 1,262 9 9,753 Durham 9,604 427 0 243 804 228 196 893 18 6,795 Dyfed Powys 9,802 346 5 353 669 471 125 645 2 7,187 Greater Manchester 70,975 2,942 2,695 628 5,966 3,030 562 5,627 53 49,922 Gwent 13,853 956 125 130 1,795 248 186 907 10 9,496 Humberside 16,578 696 254 176 1,180 441 158 1,547 0 12,126 Lancashire 45,555 1,048 1,871 225 6,121 2,117 678 2,989 53 30,453 Leicestershire 18,300 235 0 12 2,535 1,052 231 1,479 67 12,688 Lincolnshire 10,540 515 109 150 1,239 437 101 659 3 7,327 Merseyside 35,731 1,310 286 279 2,983 2,342 805 2,980 23 24,723 Northamptonshire 8,568 682 0 35 1,057 70 66 794 34 5,830 Northumbria 33,492 561 0 401 3,471 1,789 1,151 2,356 71 23,692 North Wales 12,823 609 14 241 1,189 572 135 740 8 9,317 North Yorkshire 13,554 1,093 303 76 1,243 112 240 920 10 9,557 Nottinghamshire 19,428 347 22 345 2,293 1,199 443 1,844 33 12,901 South Wales 36,595 1,194 257 537 4,454 2,786 667 2,216 9 24,475 773W
Table 4: 42 Area receipts April-December 1997 Area Received in magistrates' courts Thames Valley 31,594 Warwickshire 6,838 West Mercia 17,510 West Midlands 62,353 Wiltshire 11,385 Cheshire 18,224 Cleveland 14,167 Cumbria 14,431 Derbyshire 14,971 Durham 10,124 Dyfed Powys 10,069 Greater Manchester 70,529 Gwent 14,739 Humberside 16,245 Lancashire 45,549 Leicestershire 16,806 Lincolnshire 10,825 Merseyside 35,645 Northamptonshire 8,674 Northumbria 34,042 North Wales 12,805 North Yorkshire 13,752 Nottinghamshire 22,687 South Wales 36,942 South Yorkshire 25,688 West Yorkshire 60,511 42 Total Areas 1,050,360
Table 5: 42 Area completed cases in magistrates' courts April-December 1997 Area Finalised Advice Non-riminal proceedings Discontinued before 1st hearing Discontinued before trial Write off Bind over Committed to Crown Court Discharged at Committal Heard in magistrates' courts South Yorkshire 26,271 962 526 166 3,434 833 515 2,484 67 17,284 West Yorkshire 60,230 1,037 87 175 8,148 2,734 1,982 5,473 28 40,566 42 Areas Total 1,044,942 37,426 8,458 9,788 111,654 68,476 16,964 80,180 1,215 710,782
Table 6: 42 Area case outcomes April-December 1997 Area Convicted Per cent Dismissed Per cent. Avon & Somerset 16,481 98.5 253 1.5 Oxfordshire 7,780 98.0 159 2.0 Cambridgeshire 9,716 98.0 201 2.0 Devon & Cornwall 16,136 98.7 205 1.3 Dorset 7,779 99.1 73 0.9 Essex 14,677 98.2 268 1.8 Gloucestershire 7,432 98.6 104 1.4 Hampshire 21,839 97.6 546 2.4 Hertfordshire 8,960 97.9 191 2.1 Kent 15,667 98.3 265 1.7 Metropolitan & City 95,304 97.4 2,512 2.6 Norfolk 9,674 98.0 198 2.0 Staffordshire 14,776 98.5 232 1.5 Suffolk 6,869 98.4 111 1.6 Surrey 6,771 98.5 106 1.5 Sussex 14,853 98.2 278 1.8 Thames Valley 20,343 98.1 397 1.9 Warwickshire 5,306 98.8 66 1.2 West Mercia 11,759 97.5 300 2.5 West Midlands 36,792 98.1 712 1.9 Wiltshire 8,282 99.1 78 0.9 Cheshire 12,866 97.8 291 2.2 Cleveland 9,700 98.6 140 1.4 Cumbria 11,110 98.4 183 1.6 Derbyshire 9,543 97.3 269 2.7 Durham 6,709 97.8 149 2.2 Dyfed Powys 7,250 98.2 131 1.8 Greater Manchester 49.363 98.6 680 1.4 Gwent 9,284 97.4 247 2.6 Humberside 12,025 98.9 133 1.1 Lancashire 30,174 98.9 347 1.1 Leicestershire 12,487 98.0 259 2.0 Lincolnshire 7,250 98.5 111 1.5 Merseyside 24,068 97.1 721 2.9 Northamptonshire 5,792 97.1 172 2.9 Northumbria 23,214 97.7 550 2.3 North Wales 9,154 97.9 193 2.1 North Yorkshire 9,598 98.8 116 1.2 Nottinghamshire 12,664 97.6 306 2.4 South Wales 24,005 97.8 549 2.2 South Yorkshire 17,066 98.4 284 1.6 West Yorkshire 40,232 99.0 420 1.0 42 Areas Total 700,765 98.1 13,505 1.9
§ Sir Nicholas LyellTo ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement as to the nature of the statistics compiled in relation to cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service since 1 April 1996 in relation to each of the new Crown Prosecution Service areas. [32570]
The Attorney-GeneralThe information systems maintained by the Crown Prosecution Service are sufficiently flexible to provide in relation to the new areas information on case numbers and outcomes from April 1996 equivalent to that presently available in relation to the 13 existing areas.