Crown Court Trials (Waiting Times)

Mr. Byers
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will provide a breakdown by Crown court circuit of the average length of time between an accused person being remanded in custody for trial at Crown court and the date on which the trial starts. [34826]

Mr. John M. Taylor
The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

Letter from Michael Huebner to Mr. Stephen Byers, dated 17 July 1995: WAITING TIME FOR CROWN COURT TRIALS The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to the above Question about the average length of time between an accused person being remanded in custody for trial and the date on which the trial starts in the Crown Court. I am able to provide you with the following information for each Circuit and overall for England and Wales. These figures cover the 12 month period up to 31 March 1995: Midland and Oxford Circuit: 12.3 weeksNorth Eastern Circuit: 15.9 weeksNorthern Circuit: 14.5 weeksSouthern Eastern Circuit (London): 13.2 weeksSouthern Eastern Circuit (Provinces) 14.2 weeksWales and Chester Circuit: 8.8 weeksWestern Circuit: 12.2 weeksEngland and Wales: 13.5 weeks