Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney-General what estimate he has made of the number of cases which were due to be committed to the Crown Court but which were not sent by magistrates' courts as a result of identifiable failings by the Crown Prosecution Service in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
The Solicitor-General (Oliver Heald): The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) records indicate that between November 2011 and October 2012, there were 59,634 committals for trial of which 1,299 (2%) were discharged by the magistrates court. Of these 1,299 committals, 263 (0.4%) were recorded as “CPS not ready—adjournment refused”, however, it is not recorded whether this was occasioned by an “identifiable failing” of the CPS or some other person or organisation. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by undertaking a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost. All discharged committals are reviewed locally and consideration is given to subsequently recharging of the defendant.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown Prosecution Service staff trained as (a) barristers and (b) solicitors were available to lead prosecutions of criminal cases at London courts in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (ii) 2012-13 to date; and if he will make a statement.
The Solicitor-General: The following table gives the numbers of barristers and solicitors (expressed in full-time equivalent) employed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) London. The figures are for each full financial year for the period 2010 to 2012, and for the period 1 April 2012 to 30 November 2012. The full range of cases in the magistrates and Crown courts are prosecuted by barristers and solicitors employed by CPS London, according to their level of skill and experience.
PeriodBarristersSolicitorsTotalPhilip Davies: To ask the Attorney-General in what proportion of cases in magistrates' courts prosecutors for the Crown Prosecution Service have been in court without (a) the full case file and (b) any case file at all in each of the last three years.
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the number of cases in magistrates courts where prosecutors for the CPS have been in court without a full case file. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by undertaking a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files at a disproportionate cost.
Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney-General what estimate he has made of the proportion of trials that do not take place in magistrates' courts as a result of identifiable failings by the Crown Prosecution Service; and if he will make a statement.
The Solicitor-General: Although the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the proportion of trials that do not take place in magistrates courts, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service does hold data which is shared with the CPS.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), as part of its regular local performance management arrangements, reviews the data along with other users of the Criminal Justice System, identifying trials that are cracked or ineffective for reasons associated with the prosecution to ensure that lessons are learned.
The available data does not however identify how many of these trials do not take place because of ''identifiable failings of the CPS", as opposed to failings of any other organisation or individual or other factor. Such data could not be reasonably obtained locally or nationally other than by reviewing individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.