§ Mr. FallonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the delays to the arrangements of early listing dates in cases where the Crown Prosecution Service and the police have not prepared statements and arranged for witnesses to be available before pleas are entered. [9275]
§ Mr. WillsThe national Trial Issues Group carried out a review of the reducing delay measures in November of last year, in so far as they affected the magistrates' courts. One of the recommendations was that a national agreement should be established on file quality standards so that it was clear when they were "fit for purpose" and ready to proceed to court.
The Government's strategy to reduce unnecessary delay in the criminal justice system is being taken forward at a national level by the Trial Issues Group through its Reducing Delays Sub Group (RDSG). To achieve this, RDSG established a National Implementation Team consisting of officials from the Home Office, Lord Chancellor's Department, Crown Prosecution Service, police, Law Society and the Court Service. A "post-Narey" evaluation of most of the new procedures has now been carried out and an action plan based on its recommendations has been drawn up. TIG will oversee action generally on this during the course of this year.