To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Magistrates' Courts: Convictions
Wednesday 25th July 2018

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, with reference to tables three and seven of the Crown Prosecution Service Annual Report 2016-17, what the reasons are for conviction rates in Magistrates Courts being higher than those in Crown Court; and what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for defendants having a 25 per cent greater chance of acquittal at a Crown Court than at a Magistrates Court.

Answered by Geoffrey Cox

The latest annual report and accounts are now available on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Website. The table below shows that, during each of the last four most recently available years, conviction rates have remained stable in both magistrates’ courts and at the Crown Court.

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

Magistrates' Courts Conviction Rate

84.2%

83.8%

84.8%

84.8%

Crown Court Conviction Rate

79.4%

79.2%

78.9%

79.9%

Data Source: CPS Management Information System

Cases prosecuted at magistrates’ courts tend to comprise minor or less serious offences with a greater proportion of defendants pleading guilty (78.0% during 2017-18, compared to 70.9% at the Crown Court). By way of example, motoring cases comprise over 21% of cases in the magistrates’ courts but only 2% in the Crown Court.

In contrast, a greater proportion of cases triable on indictment at the Crown Court are serious and complex in nature, and defendants are more likely to plead not guilty. During the most recent year, 16.8% of prosecutions at the Crown Court resulted in a trial, with a conviction after contest rate of 54.0%, compared to 9.1% of magistrates’ courts prosecutions and a conviction after contest rate of 62.1%.


Written Question
Crown Prosecution Service: Staff
Monday 9th July 2018

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the reduction in the number of CPS staff on the number of criminal charges brought in England and Wales between 2010 and 2017.

Answered by Jeremy Wright

Whilst the Crown Prosecution Service has seen a reduction of staff, this does not necessarily correlate to the decreasing caseload. During the same period, the volume of police charged cases and referrals for pre-charge decisions has declined. Importantly, the Crown Prosecution Service has maintained its conviction rate of around 84% throughout this time.


Written Question
Attorney General: Families
Monday 16th November 2015

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what steps his Department has taken to embed the family test into its policy making.

Answered by Jeremy Wright

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and whenever appropriate the Law Officers’ Departments would follow that guidance.