§ Andrew BennettTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much was awarded in fines in each of the last 12 months and what percentage of such fines have been(a) collected and (b) written off by each magistrates court in Greater Manchester; and what assessment the Lord Chancellor has made of the impact of court enforcement officers in fine enforcements. [77809]
§ Yvette CooperMagistrates courts committees (MCCs) have a responsibility for the collection of a range of debts imposed by the magistrates courts and the Crown court. Debt collected includes not only fines but also fees, compensation, confiscation orders, legal aid contributions and some maintenance orders. It is not possible to separate out only fines from the total.
Greater Manchester magistrates courts committee was unable to provide a monthly breakdown of figures. Data are collected from each of the 11 court houses in their estate on a quarterly basis. The figures for the last four quarters are set out in the following table. The percentages in the debt paid and debt written off columns include amounts that have been imposed in previous quarters. It is not possible therefore to isolate the amounts imposed that have been paid and written off in any particular quarter.
The Government remain committed to improving the enforcement of financial penalties and addressing variations in performance. Current variations in performance across the country are far too wide. Work is under way with the MCCs to look at the reasons behind the wide variations to improve their performance.
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Imposed (£) Percentage debt paid1 Percentage debt written off2 BOLTON October to December 2001 378,009 93 23 January to March 2002 332,802 114 21 April to June 2002 397,130 94 27 July to September 2002 381,990 95 28 Bury; Rochdale. Middleton and Haywood; Wigan; Leigh October to December 2001 1,478,681 62 8 January to March 2002 1,545,300 63 25 April to June 2002 1,504,221 57 6 July to September 2002 1,827,840 47 11 MANCHESTER October to December 2001 1,405,793 55 52 January to March 2002 1,602,245 64 52
Imposed (£) Percentage debt paid1 Percentage debt written off2 April to June 2002 1,593,020 62 42 July to September 2002 1,550,876 69 55 OLDHAM October to December 2001 293,132 89 37 January to March 2002 248,668 96 40 April to June 2002 232,114 120 53 July to September 2002 212,528 122 25 SALFORD October to December 2001 254,800 161 72 January to March 2002 197,860 136 75 April to June 2002 266,617 117 41 July to September 2002 235,158 107 44 STOCKPORT October to December 2001 380,056 84 36 January to March 2002 333,999 95 42 April to June 2002 342,505 113 21 July to September 2002 402,187 82 33 TAMESIDE October to December 2001 334,432 73 27 January to March 2002 277,520 78 29 April to June 2002 342,115 64 24 July to September 2002 322,791 69 40 TRAFFORD October to December 2001 895,558 38 8 January to March 2002 1,072,288 26 7 April to June 2002 1,106,034 30 18 July to September 2002 1,038,753 32 88 1 Includes civil debt and debt imposed in previous quarters and paid in the present quarter. 2 Percentage debt that was imposed in previous quarters but has been deemed uncollectable in the present quarter.