§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Attorney-General how much money is outstanding in legal aid contributions from the defendant in England and Wales, and the inner London magistrates' courts area for the current year, and for each of the previous five years; and how the collection arrangements differ from the collection of fines.
§ Mr. BrittanI have been asked to reply.
The provisional total amount of legal aid contributions reported by magistrates' courts in England and 112W Wales—excluding inner London—as outstanding at 30 June 1980 was £990,000. The comparable figure for 30 June 1979 was £836,000. Figures for earlier years are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Separate figures are not available for inner London.
Both legal aid contributions and fines are payable to the clerk of the collecting court. The procedure for enforcing an outstanding legal aid contribution order is broadly similar to that for the enforcement of a maintenance order and is governed by section 35 of and schedule 3 to the Legal Aid Act 1974, whereas an unpaid fine is enforceable as a sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction under sections 63 to 72 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952.