§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of initial hearings in(a) the Crown courts and (b) in sheriff courts were heard on the scheduled date and at the scheduled time in each year since 1985.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 9 December 1993]: Among other performance targets, sheriff court staff are required to submit for the approval of their sheriff principal programmes which are designed to provide that the number of summary criminal trials adjourned due to lack of court time do not exceed 5 per 601W cent. of the total number of trials set down. This target was introduced in 1988; and the percentage of sheriff courts meeting the target in the subsequent years is as follows:
Per cent Year to 31 March 1989 91 Year to 31 March 1990 91 Year to 31 March 1991 86 Year to 31 March 1992 86 Year to 31 March 1993 87 Information on performance against this and the other targets for the sheriff courts is published annually following the commitments given in the justice charter for Scotland.