§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why his Department was able for some 30 years to give full details of the amounts of fines outstanding for payment but is now unable to supply this information; and to what extent this is a result of the use of computers and other modern aids.
§ Mr. MayhewA recent review of the arrangements by which justices' clerks notify the Home Office quarterly of outstanding sums payable to the Secretary of State showed160W that a few courts had not been correctly classifying the sums in question. The misrecording is not attributable to the use of computers or other modern mechanical accounting aids. We have no reason to believe that it has had more than a marginal effect on the national figures of arrears of fines and fees which have previously been published, but the uncertainty created by the errors—and the fact that two courts had not then provided information for the quarter ended 30 September 1980—was reflected in my reply to the hon. Member's question on 11 March. Detailed advice will shortly be issued to courts with a view to obtaining better and prompter information in future.