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7 Sept 2004 : Column 968W—continued
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Katharine Gun
Lynne Jones: To ask the Solicitor-General what the costs have been to date to the Government of the prosecution of the Katharine Gun case. [156197]
The Solicitor-General: I can only provide details of the costs incurred to the Crown Prosecution Service for whom the Attorney-General and I have ministerial responsibility. The Crown Prosecution Service estimates that the prosecution costs in this case to date are in the region of £18,552. This figure comprises of counsel's fees. The CPS is unable routinely to assess and attribute its own overhead costs to individual cases.
Butler Report
Llew Smith:
To ask the Solicitor-General if she will place in the Library copies of (a) the account given to the Butler Committee on the Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction of the legal advice provided to the Butler Committee, to which reference is made at paragraph 379 of the Butler Report and (b) the letter from the Prime Minister's Private Secretary to the
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Legal Secretary to the Law Officers, dated 15 March 2003, to which reference is made at paragraph 384 of the Butler Report. [186192]
The Solicitor-General: The account given by the Attorney-General to the Butler Committee of his legal advice was given in oral evidence to the Committee. As is clear from footnote 17 to the Butler Report, the account of the Attorney-General's advice was given in confidence without intending to waive the legal professional privilege to which the advice is subject. The substance of the letter from the Prime Minister's Private Secretary to the Legal Secretary to the Law Officers, dated 15 March 2003 is set out at paragraph 384 of the Butler Report.
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. Fisher: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions for alleged child abuse were brought by the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many resulted in a conviction. [183616]
The Solicitor-General: The following tables show aggregated information about child abuse cases that were finalised on the new Compass system during the year ending March 2004. No information is held for earlier periods, and could be obtained only through an analysis of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
Table 1 shows the number of child abuse cases in magistrates courts, broken down into unsuccessful outcomes and convictions. Unsuccessful outcomes comprise: cases discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service; cases written off because the defendant could not be traced by the police, had died or been found unfit to plead; cases discharged in the course of committal proceedings; cases dismissed because of no case to answer; and dismissals after full trial. Convictions are divided into guilty pleas and convictions after trial.
Table 2 shows the number of finalised child abuse cases recorded at the crown court. Unsuccessful outcomes in the crown court comprise: cases dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service before a jury was sworn, in which the judge ordered a formal acquittal; cases written off because the defendant could not be traced by the police, had died or been found unfit to plead; judge directed acquittals; and acquittals after trial. Convictions are divided into guilty pleas and convictions after full trial.
It should be noted that these figures are not collected from a specific list of offences. The identification of prosecution cases as child abuse is made by a member of CPS staff when a case is received from police, or within a subsequent review. Police officers and Administrators may also bring a child abuse case to CPS attention within the initial file submission.
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| Number | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| Judge ordered acquittals | 145 | 16.5 |
| Written off | 6 | 0.7 |
| Judge directed acquittals | 25 | 2.8 |
| Jury acquittals | 111 | 12.6 |
| Unsuccessful outcomes | 287 | 32.6 |
| Guilty pleas | 446 | 50.7 |
| Convicted after trial | 147 | 16.7 |
| Convictions | 593 | 67.4 |
| Total | 880 | — |
Tom Cox: To ask the Solicitor-General on how many occasions in each of the last three years the Crown Prosecution Service has not proceeded with a prosecution of an assault committed (a) on a police officer and (b) by an inmate on a prison officer on the grounds that prosecution would not be in the public interest. [183928]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) central records do not include the level of detail required to answer the present question. Information at this level of detail could be obtained only by examining individual case files in each CPS office, which would incur disproportionate cost (Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, part 2, clause 9).
David McGee
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Solicitor-General what the cost to public funds was of the prosecution of Mr. David McGee; at what level in the Crown Prosecution Service the decision on what charges to proceed with was taken; and what other potential charges were considered. [170407]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service estimates that the prosecution costs in this case to date are in the region of £6,250. This figure comprises counsels' fees and witness expenses. The CPS is unable routinely to assess and attribute its own overhead costs to individual cases.
The decision to prosecute was made by a level E special casework lawyer within the Crown Prosecution Service, following advice from leading counsel.
The other potential charges considered were under section 4 of the Official Secrets Act 1989; section 3 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981; section 16 of the Theft Act 1968; and the common law offence of misfeasance in a public office.
Elmley Prison Officers (Case Costs)
Mr. Wyatt:
To ask the Solicitor-General what the (a) legal costs of the defendants' two trials and (b) total
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cost to the Crown Prosecution Service were in the case against Prison Officers Rowland, Kerry and Watkins at Elmley Prison. [166226]
The Solicitor-General: I can only provide details of the costs incurred by the Crown Prosecution Service, for which both the Attorney and I have ministerial responsibility.
The Crown Prosecution Service costs are approximately £146,878.04. However, this figure may be reduced as the Crown Prosecution Service is currently seeking a reduction in the amount of counsel's fees claimed.
The prosecution's costs are broken down in the following table:
| Prosecution's costs (£) | |
|---|---|
| (a) Counsel's fees: | |
| at the magistrates' court to include the old style committal | 12,978.35 |
| for the preliminary hearing in 2001 | 27,766.19 |
| the final invoice (being challenged) to include re-instituting proceedings and the trial | 96,033.50 |
| Total | 136,778.04 |
| (b) Experts' fees: | 1,100.00 |
| (c) charges for enhancement of the recordings of intercepted telephone calls and for their compilation and indexation on a compact disc: | 9,000.00 |
The CPS is unable routinely to assess and attribute its own overhead costs to individual cases.
Iraq
Llew Smith: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will place in the Library copies of the intelligence assessment briefings on Iraq of September 2002 and February 2003, to which reference is made in paragraph 367 of the Butler Committee Report on intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, HC898. [185192]
The Solicitor-General:
The intelligence briefings of September 2002 and February 2003 referred to in paragraph 367 of the Review of intelligence on weapons of mass destructions were oral briefings given to the Attorney-General by the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
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