---

Courts

Answer

The workload in East Berkshire and Oxfordshire has seen a substantial increase in the past six months that has put considerable pressure on all agencies in the area. This has, in the main, been as a result of significant police activity and performance in bringing offenders to court.A number of solutions are being addressed to improve timeliness of trials and reduce the current backlog of work."Additional legal advisors have been recruited.""DCWs (dedicated case workers) have been recruited by the CPS and will be able to make substantial improvements in case-throughput once their new delegated powers are able to be exercised after April 2006.""Plans are being formulated to provide additional district judges to the magistrates’ courts from outside the area who will be able to increase the volume of cases being dealt with in the court.""In order to deal with a general shortage of courtroom capacity in the area, alternative suitable venues are being sourced to enable work to be transferred to other courthouses or utilising other buildings.""A full review of listing processes and procedures is being undertaken to ensure that priority cases are dealt with more speedily.""The courts are working with the police and CPS to identify the potential of alternative disposals where appropriate, thereby enabling the work in the courts to be prioritised."CPS Abingdon serves all the Oxfordshire magistrates’ courts. There are no figures to indicate a slow throughput in Abingdon. In fact, the average processing period in Oxfordshire is 2.09 (the average time in months to process a case), which is lower than the rest of Thames Valley (which is 2.86). This figure indicates that cases are dealt with more speedily in Oxfordshire. In relation to ineffective trials, the local performance has been better than the area and national target for four of the past six months. In relation to case-throughput, the CPS in Abingdon has seen no significant increase in respect of its workload over the past year.Listing negotiations in Thames Valley are being dealt with as a priority by the Thames Valley Local Criminal Justice Board Sub-group. The local criminal justice board has set the strategic direction for listing. Local negotiations in a number of courts are taking place between the unit heads and court officials.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

678 c146-7WA; 3737

Session

2005-06

Related items

Criminal Justice: Thames Valley
Wednesday, 25 January 2006
Written questions
House of Lords

Subjects

Criminal proceedings Crown Prosecution Service Administrative delays Magistrates' courts Trials Oxfordshire Berkshire Abingdon

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk