§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to assess whether convicted persons upon whom fines have been imposed are adequately apprised of their right to return to court to request changes in the terms of payment if their circumstances have altered.
§ Mr. John PattenThe notice of fine issued to persons on whom a fine is imposed tells them that an application for further time to pay may be made to the justices' clerk.
§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has completed any research into(a) the relationship between fines imposed upon offenders and their ability to pay and (b) the relationship between levels of default and offenders' incomes.
§ Mr. John PattenA study in 1982 looked at inquiries by courts into the means of fine defaulters. Another study, published in 1983, looked at the relationship between fine default, unemployment and the imprisonment of defaulters. A project designed to help courts to relate fine levels more systematically to offenders' means began last month in Bradford and Basingstoke, and further schemes in Teesside and Swansea are expected to start in January. The project will run for six months with a further 12-month follow-up period.
§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Minister is satisfied that the advice given by his Department in circular 13/1984 as to offenders' income and financial commitments is being universally and consistently followed by the courts in the imposition of fines.
§ Mr. John PattenThe advice contained in the Home Office circular 13/1984 remains appropriate. It is a matter for the courts under the law to decide what inquiry is appropriate in any individual case.
§ Mr. GrocottTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in the last year for which statistics are available, how many persons were committed to prison for non-payment of fines; and what was the average length of the sentence imposed;
(2) what proportion of those who have defaulted on the payment of fines in each of the last three years for which figures are available were unemployed.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggIn 1987 about 18,700 persons were received into prison service establishments in England and396W Wales following committal in default of payment of a fine. The average period imposed in default was about three weeks. Information on receptions and periods imposed in default of payment is published annually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (Table 7.3 of the latest issue, for 1986, Cm. 210) copies of which are in the Library.
Information on the employment status of prisoners is not recorded centrally.