asked the Attorney-General what is the average period between committal and trial in cases where persons are on bail or in custody, respectively, in the following courts, namely, Manchester, Liverpool, Surrey, Inner London and Middlesex Crown Courts; and how this compares to the position one year previously.

The following table shows waiting times between committal and trial averaged over the March, 1972, quarter at the Crown Court centres in question, apart from Inner London, where figures are not yet available. I will send these to the hon. Member.

Crown Court Centre	Bail Cases weeks	Custody Cases weeks
Manchester	8·8	7·0
Liverpool	7·4	6·9
Surrey	8·2	7·4
Middlesex Guildhall...	31·3	14·8

No comparable records are available for 1971, though it was estimated in July, 1971, that the average waiting time at Liverpool for both bail and custody cases was 1–2 months.