§ Mr. Rees-Daviesasked the Attorney-General what progress has been made towards reconstituting the circuits as recommended by the Royal Commission on Assizes and Quarter Sessions.
The Attorney-GeneralThe Royal Commission on Assizes and Quarter Sessions recommended a reduction in the number of Circuits from seven to six and my noble friend, the Lord Chancellor, has provisionally decided that they should, after the appointed day under the Courts Bill now before Parliament, be constituted as follows:
North-Eastern: Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, parts of Derbyshire (including Buxton and Chesterfield) and part of Nottinghamshire (Worksop).
Northern: Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, part of Derbyshire (including Glossop) and parts of Cheshire (including Birkenhead and Stockport).
Midland: Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough, Derbyshire (except Glossop, Buxton and Chesterfield), Nottinghamshire (except Worksop), Lincolnshire, parts of Buckinghamshire (including Newport Pagnell, Buckingham and Stony Stratford), Oxfordshire (except Henley) and part of Berkshire (Abingdon).
South-Eastern: Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Buckinghamshire (except Newport Pagnell, Buckingham and Stony Stratford) part of Oxfordshire (Henley), Berkshire (except Abingdon and Faringdon), Greater London, Surrey, Sussex and Kent.
Wales and Chester: Wales, Monmouthshire and Cheshire (except Birkenhead and Stockport).
Western: Gloucestershire, part of Berkshire (Faringdon), Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
Except where otherwise stated, county boroughs within the geographical area covered by a county will be in the same circuit as the county.
My noble Friend will be asking local authorities and others wishing to make 365W representations, in connection with the constitution of the circuits, to do so not later than 31st January, 1971.