§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Christopher Leslie)At the beginning of October, the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor published a national strategy for recruitment to the magistracy, setting out my Department's plans to increase the number of appointments as a justice of the peace, and to encourage applications from people with a wider range of backgrounds. In furtherance of the national strategy, the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor is now amending his directions to the Committees, which advise him on magisterial appointments. The Committees are asked to achieve a bench that is broadly representative of the community which they serve. Following advice from royal commissions in 1910 and 1948, political association has hitherto been used as an indicator of social class in seeking to achieve that balance. The Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor is satisfied that the way people vote is no longer a reliable guide to social perspective and standing. Therefore a new system is being introduced; applicants will identify themselves against occupational and industrial groupings, based on standard classifications used by the Office for National Statistics. The Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor is also telling the Committees that there need be no lower age limit for applicants who can show that they have the key qualities needed for appointment. Copies of the national strategy document44WS and of the new application form, which sets out the occupational groupings categories, have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.