asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of total prison receptions of convicted prisoners, for the last year for which figures are available, was constituted by prisoners sentenced by magistrates' courts and prisoners convicted by magistrates' courts but sentenced by higher courts, respectively.

Of the total number of persons sentenced in 1969 by courts in England and Wales to immediate imprisonment without the option of a fine, 52·8 per cent, were sentenced by magistrates' courts and 12·2 per cent, by higher courts after conviction by magistrates' courts.