§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Attorney-General what is the number of lay magistrates on the active list in England and Wales; what were the comparable figures five and 10 years ago; and what information his Department possesses about the average number of hours spent by each magistrate in court.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe number of lay magistrates on the active list in England and Wales on 1st January 1976 was 21,929. The comparable figure for 1971 was 19,250, and for 1966 15,250. My noble Friend has precise information as to the number of occasions on which each magistrate has attended court in a period of 12 months but no figures are available for the number of hours spent by each magistrate when sitting in court on each occasion.