§ Mr. NellistTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have now been taken to court and convicted for non-payment of the poll tax in England and Wales; how many have received prison sentences; how many have turned up on court to argue their cases; how many hours of court time have been involved and, based on the average cost per hour of a magistrates court, at what cost to public funds.
§ Mr. John PattenDuring the period 1 April 1990 to 30 September 1991 magistrates courts in England and Wales made 5.7 million community charge liability orders and issued 2,788 warrants committing non-payers to prison; 23,456 court sitting hours were devoted to community charge enforcement at an estimated cost of about £5 million.