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Crown Prosecution Service
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many trained specialists there are in Merseyside Crown Prosecution Service dealing with victims of (a) domestic violence, (b) rape and (c) child abuse. [170339]
The Solicitor-General: All prosecutors in CPS Merseyside deal with domestic violence cases. Last year a compulsory refresher course was run, following the introduction of the new CPS policy on these cases. The training was delivered to 60 Crown prosecutors and to police officers with help from Sefton Women and Children's Aid. It focused on raising the awareness of the needs of the victim and the role of Women's Aid, as well as on the legal aspects of dealing with these cases.
Like all CPS areas, Merseyside has a domestic violence co-ordinator, who is part of a national network which shares and disseminates policy and good practice across the CPS. In addition, each branch within CPS Merseyside has a branch co-ordinator whose responsibilities include liaison with local agencies and to assist in securing a consistency of approach across the area.
All 22 prosecutors permanently assigned to the Crown court branch are rape specialists. Compulsory training for all prosecutors (including those in other branches) in sexual offences has just commenced.
20 prosecutors are trained to deal with child abuse cases. Most of these are based in the Crown court branch, which deals with the vast majority of these cases.
Mr. Garnier:
To ask the Solicitor-General how many Crown Prosecutors have been recruited in each Crown Prosecution Service in each financial year since 1 May
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1997 for which figures are available, broken down by grade. [167304]
The Solicitor-General:
The structure of the Crown Prosecution Service changed in 1999, following the implementation of the review conducted by Sir Iain Glidewell.
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Consequently, the summary table at Annexe A only shows the number of Crown prosecutors that were recruited in each of the 42 current CPS Areas in each of the financial years since 1 May 1999, broken down by grade. Comparable figures for 1 May 1997 and 1 May 1998 are not available.
| Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | Grand total | |
| Derbyshire | 2 | — | 4 | 3 | 5 | 14 |
| Leicestershire | 1 | — | 5 | 9 | 4 | 19 |
| Lincoln | 1 | — | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| Northamptonshire | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | 8 |
| Nottinghamshire | 3 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 35 |
| Bedfordshire | — | — | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Cambridgeshire | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
| Essex | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Hertfordshire | 2 | 1 | — | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| Norfolk | — | — | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Suffolk | — | — | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| London | 13 | 7 | 85 | 71 | 39 | 215 |
| Staffordshire | — | — | 5 | — | 6 | 11 |
| Warwickshire | — | — | 1 | — | 2 | 3 |
| West Mercia | — | — | — | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| West Midlands | 9 | 14 | 12 | 21 | 9 | 65 |
| Cleveland | 1 | — | 4 | 7 | 1 | 13 |
| Durham | 3 | — | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| Northumbria | 2 | — | 7 | 9 | 12 | 30 |
| Cheshire | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 18 |
| Cumbria | — | — | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Greater Manchester | 4 | 1 | 23 | 12 | 14 | 54 |
| Lancashire | — | — | 8 | — | 13 | 21 |
| Merseyside | 2 | — | 6 | 8 | 9 | 25 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | — | — | 12 | 2 | 9 | 23 |
| Kent | 2 | — | 6 | 9 | 3 | 20 |
| Surrey | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| Sussex | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 24 |
| Thames Valley | 1 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 36 |
| Avon and Somerset | 1 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 28 |
| Devon and Cornwall | — | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| Dorset | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Gloucestershire | — | — | 2 | — | 3 | 5 |
| Wiltshire | — | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| Dyfed-Powys | — | 1 | 2 | — | — | 3 |
| Gwent | — | 1 | 7 | 3 | — | 11 |
| North Wales | — | — | 1 | — | 3 | 4 |
| South Wales | 4 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 25 |
| Humberside | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| North Yorkshire | — | — | — | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| South Yorkshire | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 24 |
| West Yorkshire | 2 | 1 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 46 |
| Total | 68 | 52 | 282 | 278 | 248 | 928 |
Departmental Procurement
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Solicitor-General what percentage of the (a) crockery, (b) cutlery and (c) glassware procured by her Department over the last five years is of British manufacture. [170813]
The Solicitor-General: In respect of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, it estimates, on the basis of checking existing stock and liaison with current suppliers, that (a) 100 per cent. of crockery, (b) 0 per cent. of cutlery and (c) 10 per cent. of glassware purchased by the Department was of British manufacture.
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has not purchased any such items since its establishment on 1 October 2000.
The Crown Prosecution Service and the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers procure very small quantities of crockery, cutlery and glass. Separate records of the source of these products are not kept.
Family Law
Mr. Byers: To ask the Solicitor-General what plans she has to issue a Green Paper on the reform of family law; and if she will make a statement. [178079]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
The Government plans to publish a consultation document on parental relationship breakdown. This will set out proposals for improving outcomes for children and the experiences of all those involved in
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parental separation, through improved services, help and support. Any legislative implications of these proposals will be addressed in the document.
Lenient Sentencing
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases from each court where the sentence was judged to be unduly lenient were referred for review in each of the last three years. [168820]
The Solicitor-General: The tables show the numbers of cases received by the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers and the numbers of cases referred to the Court of Appeal in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
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