HC Deb 04 June 1996 vol 278 cc314-5W
Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many Crown court trials there were in the west midlands in each year since 1990. [30652]

Mr. Streeter

The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 4 June 1996: The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of Crown Court trials held in the West Midlands since 1990.

The figures are as follows:

Year Birmingham Coventry Wolverhampton
1990 569 142 309
1991 618 100 336
1992 509 137 333
1993 534 174 279
1994 495 246 327
1995 600 149 407

Mr. Cunningham

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the average cost of a Crown court trial in 1995. [30653]

Mr. Streeter

The Lord Chancellor's Department incurs three main costs during Crown court trials; staff and accommodation costs to the Court Service, judicial salaries and the cost to the legal aid fund. No average cost per trial is available as cost data for the Crown court are collected on the basis of the cost per day. For the year 1995–96 these amounted to approximately £5,245 per day. This figure does not cover the cost of any of the other agencies involved in the trial process.