§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were (a) awaiting trial and (b) awaiting sentence on the most recent date for which figures are available; how many of these prisoners had been in custody for (i) three to six months, (ii) six to 12 months and (iii) over 12 months; and what was the longest period for which any untried or unconvicted prisoner had been held in custody on that date.
§ Mr. BrittanOn 31 December 1979 there were 3,799 untried prisoners and 1,873 convicted unsentenced prisoners in prison department establishments in England and Wales. The other information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the national average waiting time in 398W custody between committal and trial in 1978 and 1979.
The Solicitor-GeneralI have been asked to reply.
The average waiting time in England and Wales between committal and trial for defendants held in custody was 9.6 weeks in 1978 and 10.9 weeks in the first nine months of 1979. But the national average conceals differences between individual circuits so wide as to render it quite unreliable as a statistic.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average waiting time in custody between committal and trial in London in 1978 and 1979.
The Solicitor-GeneralI have been asked to reply.
The average waiting time in London between committal and trial for defendants held in custody was 16.7 weeks in 1978 and 18.8 weeks in the first nine months of 1979.