To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance his Department has issued to the Crown Prosecution Service on plea bargaining. (163736)

I have been asked to reply.

The Attorney-General issued guidelines on the acceptance of pleas and the prosecutor's role in the sentencing exercise in October 2005; these can be found on

www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk.

These guidelines superceded earlier guidance on the acceptance of pleas issued by the Attorney-General in December 2000.