§ Mr. MalinsTo ask the Attorney-General what was the total sum ordered to be paid by defendants in criminal cases in relation to the prosecution cost; and what was the total sum recovered in each of the last three years. [2955]
§ The Attorney-GeneralInformation on the amounts ordered to be paid by defendants in relation to prosecution costs is not available centrally within the Crown Prosecution Service and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. The sums recovered from defendants in the last three years in relation to the CPS are as follows:
Amount recovered £ million 1994–95 19.3 1995–96 20.5 1996–97 21.4 The number of cases handled by the Serious Fraud Office is sufficiently small for such awards to be centrally available. Orders for the payment of prosecution costs are passed to the appropriate magistrates court which is responsible for enforcing the order and collecting payments. The amounts awarded and recovered in the last three financial years in relation to awards in favour of the SFO are:
Awarded £ Recovered £ 1994–95 60,000 154,621.50 1995–96 191,667 24,756.00 1996–97 6,000 1172,554.66 1Unaudited figure. Please note that recovery of amounts of costs awarded do not always fall in the same financial year.