§ 30. Mr. Hoggasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for authority to proceed under the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967 are currently before his Department; what is the average time between receipt of these applications and their disposal; whether he is aware that delay is occurring in the disposal of cases by the courts in consequence of the delay in obtaining authority to proceed; and what action he proposes to take to reduce the possibility of delay.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsNo such requests are currently before my Department. In the case of the one request that has been received since the Act came into operation on 1st September, the authority to the court to proceed was issued fifteen days after the receipt of the request, which I am satisfied was not an unreasonable time in the circumstances of the case.