§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will, in future, take whatever action may prove necessary to ensure that details concerning the amount of outstanding fines in inner London are made available in the same manner as those for the rest of England and Wales; and, when arranging this, if he will ascertain the amount of fines where time to pay had expired.
§ Mr. BrittanI understand that the accounting arrangements in the inner London magistrates' courts are to be improved by installing a mechanised system that would enable information about outstanding fines to be made available on the same basis as elsewhere in England and Wales.
Justices' clerks are not required to supply us with returns of outstanding fines overdue for payment. Such information could not be obtained without imposing considerable extra work on their offices. We do not think that the extra expenditure and diversion of manpower would be justified.