§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many cases of theft of articles under £20 in value were tried in the magistrates' courts in the year up to May 1974 on pleas of (a) guilty, and (b) not guilty; and what are the comparative figures for the latest available date;
(2) what proportion of those who pleaded not guilty at a magistrates' court in the past 12 months was acquitted;
(3) what was the number of magistrates' court rooms daily in use in May 1974 and currently;
(4) what is the average length of time a defendant now has to wait before an accusation triable summarily which is estimated to last for two consecutive days can be heard in a magistrates' court (a) in London and (b) outside London.
§ Mr. JohnI regret the information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.