Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the number of cases heard in Crown Courts (a) which were sent by Magistrates to the Crown Court and (b) where the defendant elected a jury trial where the sentencing outcome could have been achieved in the Magistrates Court with their current sentencing powers.

To produce the analysis required to answer the Question, with the appropriate level of statistical rigour required, could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.