§ Mr. HendryTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many(a) lay magistrates and (b) vacancies for lay magistrates there are, broken down by county. [29711]
§ Mr. WillsThe total number of lay magistrates in England and Wales is published in the "Judicial Appointments Annual Report". The table taken from the 2000–01 edition shows the total number of lay magistrates, broken down by commission area. Figures are not kept broken down by county.
The numbers of magistrates required on each Bench is determined each year by the Lord Chancellor's local Advisory Committee. It is determined after consultation with the Bench chairman and magistrates courts committee with the aim of achieving average sittings for each magistrate within the range 35 to 45 half-days a year.
975WThe number depends on such factors as work load and the number of expected retirements and resignations, and the capacity of the Bench to cope with new appointments. Each Advisory Committee has a different recruitment cycle so the total number of vacancies is constantly
Lay magistrates (excluding Duchy of Lancaster)—1 April 2001 Age Gender Commission area Total Under 40 40-49 50-59 60-69 Male Female Avon and Somerset 908 37 181 413 277 448 460 Bedfordshire 291 12 50 139 90 148 143 Cambridgeshire 345 12 73 162 98 169 176 Cheshire 495 33 98 216 148 247 248 City of London 120 7 33 52 28 55 65 Cleveland 428 20 93 192 123 236 192 Cumbria 306 12 45 153 96 157 149 Derbyshire 438 16 68 212 142 230 208 Devon and Cornwall 736 24 105 355 252 374 362 Dorset 352 7 64 165 116 182 170 Durham 308 14 63 143 88 172 136 Dyfed 240 3 49 116 72 146 94 East Sussex 405 8 66 182 149 191 214 Essex 647 14 116 342 175 329 318 Gloucestershire 294 6 47 143 98 159 135 Gwent 302 12 37 145 108 159 143 Hampshire 787 46 141 379 221 393 394 Hereford and Worcester 408 8 75 193 132 218 190 Hertfordshire 454 28 100 185 141 213 241 Humberside 450 13 81 231 125 218 232 Inner London 789 33 140 342 274 323 466 Isle of Wight 63 1 14 26 22 35 28 Kent 795 21 147 389 238 430 365 Leicestershire 522 19 98 234 171 272 250 Lincolnshire 397 20 66 196 115 187 210 Middlesex 950 40 172 430 308 444 506 Norfolk 441 12 64 220 145 214 227 North East London 546 38 117 240 151 299 247 North Yorkshire 375 8 77 177 113 187 188 Northamptonshire 339 10 55 152 122 175 164 Northumberland 189 7 34 70 78 91 98 North Wales 402 5 43 202 152 231 171 Nottinghamshire 681 31 114 277 259 340 341 Powys 86 4 16 40 26 46 40 Shropshire 271 5 52 124 90 147 124 South East London 409 21 94 173 121 212 197 South Wales 551 18 91 256 186 287 264 South West London 374 13 68 180 113 173 201 South Yorkshire 740 46 125 320 249 394 346 Staffordshire 572 23 122 249 178 298 274 Suffolk 352 11 56 194 91 185 167 Surrey 387 16 74 165 132 179 208 Thames Valley 937 29 145 488 275 439 498 Tyne and Wear 762 34 152 351 225 413 349 Warwickshire 204 4 34 104 62 106 98 West Glamorgan 275 7 32 117 119 148 127 West Midlands 1,684 88 345 720 531 885 799 West Sussex 349 16 65 161 107 177 172 West Yorkshire 1,329 76 283 600 370 674 655 Wiltshire 286 7 50 145 84 140 146 Total 24,771 995 4,530 11,460 7,786 12,575 12,196 Percentage of total 100 4 18.3 46.3 31.4 50.8 49.2 976W
Political affiliation Ethnic background Commission area Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat Plaid Cymru Other and uncommitted White Black Asian Other Not known Avon and Somerset 294 191 149 0 274 840 16 9 4 39 Bedfordshire 111 54 39 0 87 258 4 15 5 9 Cambridgeshire 132 84 40 0 89 325 1 4 0 15 Cheshire 178 137 52 1 127 484 2 5 2 2 City of London 42 21 14 0 43 88 12 2 3 15 Cleveland 161 137 41 0 89 372 0 8 3 45 changing. However, in the year ending 31 March 2001 the Lord Chancellor appointed 1,366 new magistrates against 1,667 vacancies that Advisory Committees hoped to fill (81.9 per cent.) The target is that by 2003 at least 95 per cent, of vacancies are filled every year.
977W
Political affiliation Ethnic background Commission area Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat Plaid Cymru Other and uncommitted White Black Asian Other Not known Cumbria 107 66 21 0 112 302 0 1 1 2 Derbyshire 169 116 56 0 97 422 4 8 1 3 Devon and Cornwall 290 111 137 0 198 700 0 2 5 29 Dorset 155 42 73 0 82 334 2 3 0 13 Durham 68 118 19 0 103 301 2 4 0 1 Dyfed 59 60 36 35 50 232 0 0 0 8 East Sussex 159 79 49 0 118 381 1 5 3 15 Essex 262 125 105 0 155 597 6 2 1 41 Gloucestershire 145 39 48 0 62 244 4 5 1 40 Gwent 75 87 21 4 115 285 1 5 0 11 Hampshire 270 147 130 0 240 747 4 9 11 16 Hereford and Worcester 195 95 54 0 64 366 1 4 3 34 Hertfordshire 154 118 64 0 118 413 7 7 2 25 Humberside 188 121 49 0 92 443 0 5 2 0 Inner London 313 252 96 0 128 596 75 15 16 87 Isle of Wight 25 8 10 0 20 58 2 0 0 3 Kent 334 150 131 0 180 664 7 18 7 99 Leicestershire 187 121 69 0 145 476 13 22 7 4 Lincolnshire 172 70 58 2 95 351 0 5 2 39 Middlesex 357 292 94 0 207 729 71 71 23 56 Norfolk 162 102 69 0 108 384 1 3 4 49 North East London 182 194 64 0 106 394 42 33 10 67 North Yorkshire 151 69 58 0 97 353 0 2 4 16 Northamptonshire 173 78 54 0 34 321 7 11 0 0 Northumberland 66 40 26 1 56 189 0 0 0 0 North Wales 139 103 74 50 36 393 1 2 1 5 Nottinghamshire 252 189 78 0 162 632 17 15 5 12 Powys 25 10 20 3 28 84 0 0 0 2 Shropshire 105 64 58 0 44 262 1 2 2 4 South East London 147 95 65 1 101 345 19 14 9 22 South Wales 134 163 76 16 162 519 4 8 6 14 South West London 168 73 78 0 55 237 10 5 6 116 South Yorkshire 214 258 103 0 165 700 10 17 6 7 Staffordshire 210 181 53 0 128 546 1 18 1 6 Suffolk 107 68 52 1 124 344 1 3 4 0 Surrey 162 62 43 0 120 370 1 3 6 7 Thames Valley 359 175 137 0 266 859 23 22 8 25 Tyne and Wear 214 264 102 0 182 697 4 9 7 45 Warwickshire 79 50 42 0 33 191 2 9 1 1 West Glamorgan 83 106 37 10 39 271 0 3 1 0 West Midlands 584 558 195 0 347 1,434 72 103 12 63 West Sussex 126 75 74 0 94 334 3 4 2 6 West Yorkshire 411 440 173 0 305 1,089 33 74 10 123 Wiltshire 119 48 47 0 72 272 3 4 0 7 Total 8,974 6,306 3,413 124 5,954 22,228 490 598 207 1,248 Percentage of total 36.2 25.5 13.8 0.5 24 89.7 2 2.4 0.8 5
Lay magistrates (Duchy of Lancaster)—1 April 2001 Age Gender Commission area Total Under 40 40-49 50-59 60-69 Male Female Greater Manchester 1,931 78 368 898 587 901 940 Lancashire 1,041 21 164 499 357 560 481 Merseyside 992 43 179 424 346 513 479 978W
Political affiliation Ethnic background Commission area Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat Plaid Cymru Other and uncommitted White Black Asian Other known Greater Manchester 577 624 237 0 493 1,789 41 80 18 3 Lancashire 283 246 69 0 443 995 3 34 9 0 Merseyside 278 249 161 0 304 964 8 14 6 0