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Dept for Constitutional Affairs

Answer

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what percentage of fines were unpaid (a) fully and (b) partially in each of the last 15 years following a criminal conviction in England and Wales; [191799] (2) how many fines were collected as a result of enforcement procedures in each of the last five years. [191801] Mr. Leslie: Information on fines imposed and collected is provided by the 42 Magistrates Courts Committees (MCCs) in England and Wales. The following table shows the payment rate for the last five years--comparative data are not available for years prior to 1999-2000. Data regarding the proportion of fines that are unpaid (a) fully or (b) partially are not held centrally and could be made available only at disproportionate cost. However, data in the Home Office Research Paper, "Clearing the Debts: The Enforcement of Financial Penalties in Magistrates' Courts" (March 2003), indicate that 26 per cent. of fines are paid in full without the need for enforcement action, with the balance of the payment rate being the result of enforcement activity. The DCA's Enforcement Programme is working towards improving data collection for enforcement but this is reliant on the introduction of new IT systems, due from 2005. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Period Payment rate (percentage) 1999-20001 62 2000-011 63 2001-021 59 2002-031 55 2003-041,2,3 74 2004-053 78 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Payment rate (September 1999 to March 2003) The primary indicator was the payment rate defined as the amount paid into court as a percentage of new amounts owed. 2 Payment rate (April 2003 to-December 2003) The calculation for the payment rate between April 2003 and, December 2003 was: Payment rate = amount paid divided by new amount owed (new amount owed excludes legally cancelled + civil confiscation orders). 3 Payment rate (January 2004 onwards) Payment rate = amount paid divided by new amount owed (new amount owed excludes legally cancelled + administratively cancelled + civil + confiscation orders). Note: Payment rate = amount paid divided by new amount owed. (new amount owed excludes legally cancelled + administratively cancelled + civil + confiscation orders). As a result of the revisions in the method of calculating the payment rate, direct year-on-year comparisons cannot be made.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

425 c641W; 191799;191801

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Enforcement Fines Unpaid fines

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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