§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how long on average elapses between the date of a person being charged with an offence and the date of(a) arraignment and (b) conclusion of case at Doncaster Crown court for each of the main categories of serious crime. [27633]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe 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 him to reply direct.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 8 May 1996:
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department. has asked me to reply to your question about the average duration of criminal proceedings at Doncaster Crown Court. In preparing my reply, I have liaised with colleagues the Lord Chancellor's Department who are responsible for proceedings in the magistrates courts.143WThe average period between the date on which an offence takes place and the case being committed to Doncaster Crown Court by the magistrates court from 1994 to the present is 26.1 weeks. The figure is based on a survey done in three sample weeks each year and the number of cases on which the average is based is 39.The average period from committal to arraignment or start of trial at Doncaster Crown Court in 1995 was 17.9 weeks. You asked for figures relating to the most serious cases. Doncaster does not however deal with the most serious offences, such as murder, which are instead committed to Leeds Crown Court. Figures for individual offences are not available in any event and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.