§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what developments are being considered for non-custodial alternatives to imprisonment for fine default in Scotland.
§ Mr. AncramCourts can already order the enforcement of fines by civil diligence, as an alternative36W to imprisonment in default. The most satisfactory means of avoiding imprisonment in default is to ensure that wherever possible the fine is paid in full, and that was one of the objectives of our fines enforcement officer experiment, the results of which are currently being evaluated.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current number of prisoners now in prison in Scotland who are imprisoned as fine defaulters; and what were the corresponding figures for each of the last three years.
§ Mr. AncramThe average numbers of persons in Scottish penal establishments serving custodial sentences imposed in default of a fine in February 1984 and in the same month in the preceding 3 years are set out in the following table.
Average number of persons in Scottish penal establishements serving sentences imposed in default of a fine February February February February 1981 1982 1983 1984 Adults 271 169 211 220 Under 21 offenders 85 65 71 49 TOTAL 356 234 282 269