§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Attorney-General for each week in financial years 1987–88 and 1988–89, how many cases had to be adjourned in(a) the magistrates courts and (b) the Crown courts because the prosecution witnesses did not appear; and what those adjournments cost were in respect of (a) the Crown prosecution service, (b) defendants and (c) costs of running the courts, giving the figures in respect of (b) separately for those legally aided and those not legally aided.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe information requested about the number of cases adjourned because prosecution witnesses did not appear is not collated centrally and could only be obtained by examining many thousands of case files. Information about the cost of those adjournments to the various parties is not available. Some limited research 241W by the Crown prosecution service and the Home Office has been carried out into the broad reasons for adjournments and the results were presented to the Home Affairs Committee during the conduct of its inquiry into the Crown prosecution service.
§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Attorney-General for each of the financial years since the establishment of the Crown prosecution service what was the number of occasions the Crown prosecution service had costs awarded against it; what those costs amounted to for each of those years; and what were the precise grounds on which the costs were awarded in each case.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe number of occasions an award of costs was made against the Crown prosecution service and the amounts of costs paid by the Crown prosecution service since its establishment are as follows:
Year Number of awards Amount paid £ 1986–87 731 115,324 1987–88 950 85,586 1988–89 525 89,547 1989–90 410 163,949 These figures cover only the 31 areas of the Crown prosecution service and do not include awards of costs made in cases handled by the headquarters casework group. The number of awards made in headquarters casework is not known, but the amounts paid in respect of each financial year were:
Amount paid in headquarter cases Year £ 1986–87 1 1987–88 1 1988–89 66,537 1989–90 78,346 1 Reliable figures not readily available. Information as to the precise grounds on which the costs were awarded in each case is only available on the individual case file, but an award of costs may only be made against the Crown prosecution service where a court is satisfied that costs have been incurred as a result of an unnecessary or improper act or omission by or on behalf of the service. Thus an award of costs can be made against the service for act or omissions over which it has no control.
§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Attorney-General what is the present day cost for the Crown prosecution service in the areas of each of the former metropolitan counties(a) at today's prices and (b) at 1986 prices.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe cost of the Crown prosecution service in 1989–90 in the areas of each of the former metropolitan counties was as follows:
Cost Area 1989–90 prices £ 1986–87 prices £ Durham-Northumbria 5,522,286 4,533,907 Greater Manchester 9,522,758 7,818,375 Merseyside 6,132,525 5,034,925 South Yorkshire 3,943,197 3,237,444 West Midlands 7,652,803 6,283,104 West Yorkshire 6,845,423 5,620,229