§ Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the judiciary has agreed to assist in the research studies being undertaken by the Home Office into sentencing practice and custodial sentences.
§ Mr. MayhewA research project in this field to be carried out by the Home Office research and planning unit is under consideration. A pilot study has been completed with the full co-operation of the courts concerned; an approach has yet to be made to the judiciary about proceeding to a full-scale project.
Another project on sentencing in the Crown court, which was proposed to be carried out by the Oxford Centre for Criminological Research with a grant from the Home Office, is not being pursued beyond the pilot stage.