§ Mr. GapesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of the guidelines issued to magistrates with regard to sentencing policy in respect of guilty pleas; and why the question from the hon. Member for Ilford, South of 18 October received no answer.
§ Mr. MacleanA copy of the sentencing guidelines issued by the Magistrates Association to its members on 17 September 1993 has been placed in the Library. I regret that the hon. Member's question of 18 October was not answered. As I explained when I wrote to him on 9 December, this was because of an administrative error that occurred when the question was transferred from the Lord Chancellor's Department to the Home Office. A copy of that letter has also been placed in the Library.