§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been waiting(a) six to 12 months, (b) 13 to 18 months and (c) more than one and a half years, for the Criminal Cases Review Commission to allocate their case to a case review manager; and if he will make a statement. [128608]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeI understand that, at the end of May, the total number of eligible cases awaiting allocation to a case review manager was 899. The kind of breakdown requested is not readily available from the Criminal Cases Review Commission's current management information system, though it will be from a new system that is expected to be in use by the end of August.
§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what effect the recent increase of case review managers for the Criminal Cases Review Commission has had on the waiting time for allocation to a case review manager; and if he will make a statement. [128607]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeIt is not yet possible to say. The Commission was notified at the end of March that it would be given additional funding for 2000–01, and allowed to increase its complement of case review managers from 40 to 50. I understand that the Commission has recently completed a recruitment exercise, but that the successful applicants have not yet all taken up post, and further recruitment will anyway be necessary to bring the number of case review managers up to complement. The impact of352W these additional staff on the waiting time for the allocation of cases will also depend on the nature of the cases to be allocated to them, and the rate of receipt of applications.