HC Deb 24 May 2004 vol 421 cc1316-7W
Mr. Mark Field

To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases in the Merseyside area were referred to(a) the Crown court and (b) a magistrates court in each year since 1997; and how many of those cases were subsequently discontinued. [173129]

The Solicitor-General

The following tables show the number of cases received by CPS Merseyside in the magistrates courts and in the Crown court in each year since 1997. Magistrates courts receipts include cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police for pre-charge advice and non-criminal proceedings, as well as cases referred to the Service for prosecution. Crown court receipts include appeals and committals for sentence, as well as cases committed for trial.

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
47,080 — 45,557 — 47,969 — 49,158 — 42,307 — 46,876 — 48,383 —
5,451 13.1 5,550 13.7 6,502 15.2 6,759 15.9 6,084 16.3 5,447 14.0 5,584 13.9
3,138 7.6 2,112 5.2 3,434 8.0 3,042 7.2 2,255 6.0 2,260 5.8 1,749 4.4
41 0.1 39 0.1 48 0.1 11 0.0 7 0.0 0.0 67 0.2
47 0.1 56 0.1 81 0.2 78 0.2 85 0.2 88 0.2 110 0.3
946 2.3 673 1.7 457 1.1 708 1.7 622 1.7 520 1.3 647 1.6
25,603 61.7 26,374 65.0 25,615 59.9 24,487 57.6 23,173 61.9 24,706 63.4 25,088 62.4
4,226 10.2 4,137 10.2 5,012 11.7 5,883 13.8 3,989 10.7 4,985 12.8 5,834 14.5
2,051 4.9 1,662 4.1 1,619 3.8 1,541 3.6 1,200 3.2 945 2.4 1,114 2.8
9,623 23.2 8,430 20.8 10,522 24.6 10,598 24.9 9,053 24.2 8,315 213 8,757 20.3
31,880 76.8 32,173 79.2 32,246 75.4 31,911 75.1 28,362 75.8 30,636 78.7 32,036 79.7

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
5,022 — 4,854 — 4,411 — 4,569 — 3,947 — 4,183 — 4,518 —
447 10.9 637 14.8 443 12.7 589 16.0 687 19.0 654 18.0 686 18.9
45 1.1 123 2.9 188 5.4 123 3.3 142 3.9 123 3.4 78 2.2
56 1.4 52 1.2 49 1.4 61 1.7 64 1.8 75 2.1 85 2.3
273 6.7 253 5.9 259 7.4 263 7.1 330 9.1 299 8.2 301 8.3
2,969 72.4 2,843 66.0 2,178 62.6 2,330 63.2 2,062 56.9 2,105 57.8 2,151 59.3
313 7.6 397 9.2 363 10.4 323 8.8 338 9.3 384 10.5 324 8.9
821 20.0 1,065 24.7 939 27.0 7,036 28.7 7,223 33.8 7,757 37.6 7,750 31.7
3,282 80.0 3,240 75.3 2,541 73.0 2,653 77.9 2,400 66.2 2,489 68.4 2,475 68.3