§ Lord Graham of Edmontonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they agree that there should be a uniform ratio of population to magistrates on the active list serving petty sessional divisions in the Middlesex Area Magistrates' Courts Committee; and if so, what steps they propose to take in view of the fact that the existing ratios of population to magistrates in the area varies from 1,031 in New Spelthorne to 5,012 in Edmonton.
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone)The number of justices of the peace on the active list who are assigned to a petty sessional division is governed by the number of court sittings necessary to dispose of the work of the bench and not by the population of the area of the division.