HC Deb 04 March 1998 vol 307 c692W
28. Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to achieve political balance among magistrates in the Duchy. [30893]

Dr. David Clark

I welcome recommendations for appointments to the bench to ensure that the guidelines are followed in order that the magistrates benches reflect the demographic, political and religious composition of the communities they cover. It therefore follows that in areas which have been solidly Labour for a number of years and where the balance of the Bench favours another party I expect to receive recommendations which will rectify the imbalance. Furthermore I have taken steps to relax the age of initial appointments to allow more mature entrants to be considered.