§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Attorney-General whether he will list by crime category the number of cases in each of the last three years where cases have been discharged by magistrates courts as a result of the Crown prosecution service being unable to provide sets of papers at the appropriate time; and if he will give the total number of such cases in each year.
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§ The Attorney-GeneralThe monitoring of instances where inability to meet court deadlines results in discharge of the proceedings is a responsibility of local managers within the CPS. They liaise closely with the police service to ensure that such occurrences are kept to a minimum. Central records are not maintained. Implementation of the recommendations of the working group on pre-trial issues in accordance with my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler) on 21 February 1991 should greatly improve the ability of the CPS to provide sets of papers at the appropriate time and reduce the incidence of cases being discharged by magistrates.