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London Weighting

Pete Wishart: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will estimate the total value of London weightings and London living allowances for her Department; and if she will make a statement. [6794]

Ms Rosie Winterton: London weighting was consolidated into basic pay on 30 September 1994, at which time it was valued at:




15 Oct 2001 : Column: 1016W

A comparison between the national rate and the three London areas, based on pay range minima as at 1 August 2001, shows that on average staff in London receive more than staff in the regions as follows:




As at 1 August 2001, the numbers of staff in the Department located in those London areas are as follows:



15 Oct 2001 : Column: 1017W

Staff Costs

Pete Wishart: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will estimate total staff costs for her Department and its agencies by nation and region of the UK; and if she will make a statement. [6793]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The total staff costs for the Department are as follows (baselines for 2001):





15 Oct 2001 : Column: 1018W

Civil Service

Pete Wishart: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many and what proportion of each Civil Service grade in his Department is located in each region and nation of the UK; what the average salary is for each grade; and if he will make a statement. [6796]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The number and proportion of staff in the Department is given in table 1.

Table 1: Number and percentage of staff by grade level and region (as at 1 August 2001)
Lord Chancellor's Department

RegionAll gradesSCS levelLevel 6/7SEO/HEO levelEO levelAO and below
Number of staff by grade and region
London
Headquarters staff(73) in LCD, the Court Service and the Public Guardianship Office2,950702867917011,102
Court Service Circuits
South Eastern (London)(73)6252958198358
Supreme Court Group(73)1,8214551864931,083
South Eastern (Provincial)1,546071362421,161
Midland and Oxford1,331161251901,009
Northern1,154110106202835
North Eastern1,225110107199908
Western8881574154654
Wales and Chester581157283420
Total12,121813931,6552,4627,530
Percentage of staff by grade level and region
London
Headquarters staff(73) in LCD, the Court Service and the Public Guardianship Office248673482815
Court Service Circuits
South Eastern (London)(73)522485
Supreme Court Group(73)15514112014
South Eastern (Provisional)130281015
Midland and Oxford11128813
Northern10136811
North Eastern10136812
Western711469
Wales and Chester511436
Total100100100100100100

(73) Staff mainly based in London


The average salaries are as follows (as at 1 August 2001, following the 2001 pay review).

£

LCD HQ and associated offices Public Guardianship Office
Pay bandAverage salaryPay rangeAverage salary
A14,367114,708
B16,513215,562
C19,819319,316
D25,143423,921
E30,791526,695
F40,285631,360
G52,884740,974
853,980

Court Service HQ

Pay spanNationalOuter LondonIntermed LondonInner London
111,93913,71213,87213,805
211,89412,60013,25513,807
313,87615,01215,51815,672
417,68318,30019,42519,727
520,09621,05823,21423,350
623,54924,42524,70025,628
728,89829,54830,42931,588
836,65438,98140,629
942,80543,52249,639

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Departmental Spending

Pete Wishart: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the total amount of spending by his Department was in each nation and region of the UK, in the last year for which figures are available; what proportion of his Department's total spending this constitutes; and if he will make a statement. [6797]

Mr. Wills: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Contested Cases

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what the average delay was in hearing contested cases in (a) magistrates' courts and (b) Crown courts in each of the last three years; [7851]

Mr. Wills: I refer the right hon. Member to the table which provides the information requested.

Average waiting time in magistrates' courts between: charge and first listingfirst listing and completionAverage waiting time in the Crown Court between committal and start of trial
DaysDaysWeeks
1998(74)38(74)4518.4
1999384518.6
2000384619.6
2001(75)37(75)43(76)19.4

(74) In 1998, magistrates courts contested trial determined by an initial Not Guilty plea or no plea, 1999 and later years by the fact of a trial occurring.

(75) Survey conducted in March.

(76) January to June 2001.


Mr. Lilley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of (a) wholly contested and (b) partly contested cases are acquitted in (i) magistrates courts and (ii) Crown courts. [7850]

Mr. Wills: In the calendar year 2000, 31 per cent. and 41.4 per cent. of wholly contested cases were acquitted in the magistrates courts and Crown court respectively. For the same period, the percentages of partly contested cases were 13 per cent. and 21.1 per cent. respectively. The table gives a breakdown of the figures for 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Table showing the percentage of (a) wholly and (b) partly contested cases which were acquitted in (i) magistrates courts and (ii) Crown courts

Magistrates courts Crown courts
199819992000199819992000
(a) Wholly contested cases
Contests62,85857,63952,07718,87419,11618,099
Acquittals17,29416,26316,1228,3508,4638,214
Percentage27.528.231.044.244.345.4
(b) Partly contested cases
Contests4,2984,2623,8821,6411,3381,378
Acquittals396530506411344304
Percentage9.212.413.025.025.722.1
(c) Total contests
Contests67,15661,90155,95920,51520,45419,477
Acquittals17,69016,79316,6288,7618,8078,518
Percentage26.327.129.742.743.143.7

Source:

CPS Caseload Statistics


15 Oct 2001 : Column: 1020W

Either-way Cases

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many either-way cases heard in magistrates courts were contested in each year since 1999. [7849]

Mr. Wills: There were 23,022 either-way cases contested in the magistrates courts in 1999; 21,808 in 2000; and 10,471 between January and June 2001. The figures are for prosecutions by the Crown Prosecution Service only—figures for other prosecutors in the magistrates courts are not available.



Mr. Lilley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many either-way defendants were elected for trial in the Crown court in each year since 1999. [7848]

Mr. Wills: Figures specifically relating to either-way defendants are not collected. However, the table shows the number of Class 4 offence cases committed for trial to the Crown court in each year since 1999. These figures cover all triable either-way offences but do include an element of Class 4 indictable-only offences as well.

Class 4 cases committed by magistrates courts to the Crown court

Receipts
199961,155
200058,300
2001(77)32,752

(77) January to June

Note:

These figures include both triable either-way and indictable-only offences



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