§ Mr. George OsborneTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the cost in 2000–01 was of(a) the maintenance of each of the Crown courts in England and (b) administering each of the Crown courts in England; and what the average cost per case heard was of each of the Crown courts in 2000–01. [50693]
§ Mr. Wills(a) The table provides the cost of maintenance of each of the Crown (and combined) courts in England for the financial year 2000–01. The figures reflect gross cash expenditure and are based on routine maintenance works only. They do not include figures for any major maintenance/building enhancement works. Figures for the combined courts reflect the total costs of the buildings including non-Crown court areas. For information purposes, the average cost of maintenance per square metre of each court centre is also included.
(b) A significant proportion of the cost of administering the Crown court is paid for as central overheads and is not held in a format which can identify the individual costs of each court centre. To do so otherwise would incur disproportionate costs to the Department. For information purposes, however, the total cost of administering the Crown court in 2000–01 across England and Wales was £pound;281 million. This figure excludes legal aid costs. The total number of cases disposed of during the same period across England and Wales was:
- Committals for trials—71,330
- Cases for sentence—27,018
- Appeals cases—13,698.
Based on the total number of disposals (112,046) the indicative average cost figure per case is £2,544. However this does not take into account the relative weighting of each of the different types of cases.
596W
Circuit/Combined court centre Expenditure (£) Midland circuit Coventry 91,019 Derby 80,341 Lincoln 31,884 Northampton 84,883 Nottingham 136,815 Stafford 92,347 Stoke on Trent 83,409 Warwick 5,632 Warwick Office 12,147 Wolverhampton 86,925 North Eastern circuit Bradford 129,062 Great Grimsby 58,462 Kingston upon Hull 87,632
Circuit/Combined court centre Expenditure (£) Leeds 172,813 Newcastle upon Tyne 174,700 Sheffield 125,097 Teesside 106,031 Northern circuit Bolton 55,192 Burnley 31,733 Carlisle 49,576 Liverpool 280,152 Manchester Crown and County courts 259,674 Preston 216,270 South Eastern circuit Basildon 76,932 Canterbury 59,738 Chichester 64,512 Croydon 99,755 Hove Trial centre 64,397 Lewes 87,338 Maidstone 143,436 Norwich 88,303 Oxford 93,153 Peterborough 54,431 Wales and Chester circuit Warrington 70,505 Western circuit Bournemouth 119,860 Exeter 55,543 Gloucester 24,645 Newport (IOW) 39,190 Plymouth 79,320 Portsmouth 214,395 Salisbury 32,708 Southampton 108,349 Swindon 39,873 Taunton 66,342 Truro 55,646 Weymouth and Dorchester 8,772 Weymouth and Dorchester Offices 4,192 Winchester 38,488 Total expenditure 4,241,618 597W
Circuit/Crown court centre Expenditure (£) Midland circuit Birmingham 122,407 Hereford 11,681 Leicester 94,067 Lincoln (Castle) 25,413 Shrewsbury 26,783 Worcester 81,511 North Eastern circuit Doncaster 68,025 Durham 21,105 Newcastle upon Tyne Offices 21,405 York 35,788 Northern circuit Lancaster 5,745 Manchester 185,145 Preston 27,627 South Eastern circuit Aylesbury 10,145 Aylesbury Offices — Blackfriars 127,207 Bury St. Edmunds 2,285 Cambridge 10,304 Central Criminal court 39,321 Chelmsford 106,293 Guildford 45,461 Harrow 100,506 Ipswich 25,195 Isleworth 50,101 Kings Lynn 9,704
Circuit/Crown court centre Expenditure (£) Kingston upon Thames 153,011 Luton 77,083 Middlesex Guildhall 93,660 Reading 90,753 Snaresbrook 253,546 Southend 8,257 Southwark 137,407 St. Albans 33,402 Wood Green 115,554 Woolwich 160,975 Wales and Chester circuit Chester 61,469 Knutsford 17,444 Western circuit Bristol 201,600 Gloucester 28,607 Total expenditure 2,685,992