§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Attorney-General what was the average length of time between committal and trial in 1975, 1976, 1979, 1985 and 1986 respectively.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe average waiting time between date of committal from the magistrates court and start of trial in the Crown court in England and Wales was:
weeks 1975 9.9 1976 11.0 1979 17.6 1985 14.0 1986 14.1 Despite an increase of 66 per cent. in the number of committals for trial to the Crown court since 1979, the above figures show that average waiting times have been reduced from well over 17 weeks to about 14 weeks.