§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Attorney-General how many cases involving allegations of criminal offences have been considered in each of the past three years by the Crown prosecution service; and how many of these resulted in prosecutions being brought.
The Solicitor-GeneralStatistics at present available relate to cases handled in the 31 areas of the service but do not include the numbers of cases of specialist work undertaken at Crown prosecution service headquarters. The table sets out in respect of each of the past three years the number of cases received (column 1), the number of cases which were proceeded with (column 2), and the number of cases not proceeded with (column 3). The figures for 1992 are for the first nine months only.
Column 1 Case received Column 2 proceeded with Column 3 Not proceeded with 1990 1,638,751 1,298,158 301,048 1991 1,575,021 1,241,434 351,090 1992 1,193,294 895,582 285,181 The number of cases received in a particular period does not equal the number of cases finalised in that period (column 2 and 3) because incomplete cases are carried forward from period to period. The term "not proceeded with" includes cases discontinued, cases in which no evidence was offered, cases adjourned sine die and those not concluded because the defendant could not be traced. The figures also include cases submitted for advice only and some non-criminal proceedings (eg forfeiture under section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959).