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Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Answer

Tim Loughton: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of fines imposed have been collected by courts in each county in each of the last five years. [141063] Mr. Leslie: Information on the proportion of fines imposed that have been collected is not available for each county. The information provided is for the 42 Magistrates' Courts Committees (MCCs) in England and Wales. A new data collection procedure was implemented in 1999-2000 and comparable figures are therefore only available from that period. In addition, earlier this year, I agreed to a revision of the fine enforcement payment rate target so that it provides a far clearer focus for the performance of those involved in this vitally important area. The April to September column of the table sets out year-to-date performance on the basis of the new formula which excludes things like confiscation orders. Further management information is awaited for the rest of the business year before we can be certain that the improvement in performance we expect is fully delivered. Nevertheless, we now have a much more robust baseline data on performance and early signs are encouraging. Original payment rate by MCC Percentage _________________________________________________________________________________________________. MCC 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 1 Avon and Somerset 41 62 54 64 86 Bedfordshire 55 55 58 58 82 Cambridgeshire 63 52 36 45 150 Cheshire 73 67 58 56 84 Cleveland 83 69 54 47 84 Cumbria 80 76 76 74 98 Derbyshire 63 67 58 58 73 Devon and Cornwall 69 73 70 63 78 Dorset 71 74 89 76 76 Durham 68 67 75 74 80 Dyfed Powys 96 100 73 65 67 Essex 79 76 75 74 94 Gloucestershire 68 60 43 84 128 Greater London 49 51 46 40 62 Greater Manchester 53 60 61 64 55 Gwent 69 67 66 57 87 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 79 67 68 77 98 Hertfordshire 76 75 59 67 54 Humberside 71 65 71 67 120 Kent 50 61 64 61 80 Lancashire 69 65 68 63 81 Leicestershire 73 63 62 69 75 Lincolnshire 66 97 76 59 73 Merseyside 52 47 34 33 48 Norfolk 70 69 74 75 75 North Wales 55 51 69 53 104 North Yorkshire 79 82 75 78 90 Northamptonshire 59 62 52 63 107 Northumbria 65 61 62 59 75 Nottinghamshire 80 70 65 65 58 South Wales 59 56 40 52 80 South Yorkshire 65 73 66 61 76 Staffordshire 85 90 73 57 82 Suffolk 72 77 70 69 90 Surrey 74 58 79 81 80 Sussex 93 63 62 62 113 Thames Valley 63 62 75 69 58 Warwickshire 73 71 46 87 108 West Mercia 89 62 48 71 82 West Midlands 58 64 58 49 55 West Yorkshire 68 71 86 47 50 Wiltshire 82 83 67 68 92 England and Wales 61 63 59 55 722 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 April to September. 2 The basis on which the payment rate is calculated has been changed. The new payment rate ensures that confiscation orders (these are not fines) are excluded, and that judicially cancelled amounts are taken into account.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

141063; 415 c351-2W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Enforcement Fines Magistrates' courts Standards

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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