Lay Magistrates

Debate between Lord Keen of Elie and Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist

Monday 20th February 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage more people to come forward to train as lay magistrates.

[The Advocate-General for Scotland (Lord Keen of Elie) (Con)]

My Lords, while magistrates’ recruitment is the responsibility of the Lord Chief Justice, the department is supporting the judiciary in endeavouring to improve the application process to make it more accessible and suitable for a wide range of applicants. There is generally no shortage of applicants for the vacancies that arise.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

I thank my noble and learned friend for his reply. As he will be aware, the number of lay magistrates has plummeted in the past 10 years, from 30,000 to 17,000 today, and is predicted to fall to 11,000 in 2020. Can the Minister assure me that the drive for diversity, which I strongly support, is not compromising the principle of merit that should apply to all public appointments? Does he agree that the solution lies in more prominent and proactive recruitment drives?

[Lord Keen of Elie]

While the number of serving magistrates has reduced significantly in the past decade, it is important to make it clear that this is not indicative of any difficulties with recruitment. The reduction in the number of magistrates is due primarily to changes in workload. Recruitment is undertaken in each local justice area, with 44 advisory committees responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates. Of course, the aim is to recruit on the basis of talent but to ensure that talented people represent all backgrounds and communities they serve.