§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many trials in the Thames Valley Magistrates' Court area have been cancelled because of a shortage of legal advisers since November 2001. [71629]
§ Yvette CooperI am advised by the Thames MCC that they have not cancelled any trials, but that approximately 300 trials have been postponed; deferred or rescheduled because of a shortage of legal advisers.
To place this figure in context, the statistical returns from the Thames Valley Magistrates' Court Committee show that proceedings in 55,261 criminal and civil matters were concluded, in the Thames Valley Magistrates' Court Committee area, in the period October 2001 to March 2002.