§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the magistrates courts in England and Wales showing(a) the established posts for clerks and (b) the number of vacancies for the posts; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenManpower returns received from 88 of the 105 magistrates courts committees in England and Wales indicated that there were 149 vacancies for court clerks out of an establishment of 1,249 at 30 June 1989 the latest date for which information is available, as shown in the table.
755W
Full-time staff only Magistrates courts committee Authorised complement Staff in post +/- Avon 22 19 -3 Barking 6 3 -3 Barnet 7 6 -1 Barnsley n/a n/a n/a Bedfordshire 21 17 -4 Berkshire n/a n/a n/a Bexley 6 5 -1 Birmingham 36 36 0 Bolton 8 8 0 Bradford 16 16 0 Brent 9 7 -2 Bromley 7 7 0 Buckinghamshire 10 10 0 Bury 6 6 0 Calderdale 8 8 0 Cambridgeshire 7 5 -2 Cheshire 27 25 -2 Cleveland 19 19 0 Cornwall n/a n/a n/a Coventry 11 10 -1 Croydon 11 11 0 Cumbria 9 8 -1 Derbyshire 24 16 -8 Devon n/a n/a n/a Doncaster 11 8 -3 Dorset 16 16 0 Dudley 9 9 0 Durham 10 9 -1 756W
Full-time staff only Magistrates courts committee Authorised complement Staff in post +/- Ealing 11 10 -1 East Sussex n/a n/a n/a Enfield 5 5 0 Essex 27 24 -3 Gateshead 6 6 0 Gloucestershire n/a n/a n/a Hampshire 41 40 -1 Haringey 9 7 -2 Harrow n/a n/a n/a Havering 6 6 0 Hereford and Worcester 19 17 -2 Hertfordshire 22 17 -5 Hillingdon 8 8 0 Hounslow 14 12 -2 Humberside 23 22 -1 Isle of Wight 3 2 -1 Kent 46 32 -14 Kingston 3 3 0 Kirklees 12 11 -1 Knowsley 6 5 -1 Lancashire 43 39 -4 Leeds 31 31 0 Leicestershire 15 11 -4 Lincolnshire 10 9 -1 Liverpool 22 17 -5 London (City of) 5 5 0 London (inner)1 36 29 -7 Manchester 26 23 -3 Merton 8 7 -1 Newcastle 11 11 0 Newham 10 10 0 Norfolk 19 14 -5 North Tyneside 3 1 -2 North Yorkshire 16 15 -1 Northamptonshire 17 16 -1 Northumberland n/a — — Nottinghamshire 39 31 -8 Oldham 9 8 -1 Oxfordshire n/a — — Redbridge n/a — — Richmond 6 6 0 Rochdale 10 9 -1 Rotherham 7 7 0 Salford 10 10 0 Sandwell n/a — — Sefton n/a — — Sheffield 16 16 0 Shropshire 5 5 0 Solihull 6 5 -1 Somerset 11 8 -3 South Tyneside 6 5 -1 St. Helens n/a — — Staffordshire 25 21 -4 Stockport 14 12 -2 Suffolk n/a — — Sunderland 9 8 -1 Surrey 27 25 -2 Sutton n/a — — Tameside 8 9 1 Trafford 7 6 -1 Wakefield 13 12 -1 Walsall 9 9 0 Waltham Forest 7 6 -1 Warwickshire 23 11 -12 West Sussex 28 27 -1 Wigan 11 10 -1 Wiltshire 11 10 -1 Wirral n/a — — Wolverhampton 7 4 -3 Clwyd 11 9 -2 Dyfed 11 8 -3 Gwent 10 10 0 Gwynedd n/a — — Mid Glamorgan 17 17 0 Powys 1 1 0 South Glamorgan 14 14 0
Full-time staff only Magistrates courts committee Authorised complement Staff in post +/- West Glamorgan 12 12 0 Total 1,249 1,100 -149 1 Comparable grade The staff in post figure includes trainees occupying court clerk posts, but information on their number is not readily available.
The problems of recruitment and retention of court clerks, especially those qualified as solicitors or barristers, were addressed in the pay settlement for magistrates courts staff which I have recently approved for grant purposes.