§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he has taken to satisfy himself that the returns which make up the community charge enforcement statement are an accurate report of the number of people jailed for non-payment of community charge; and if he will make a statement.
880W
Mr. John M. TaylorThe information about community charge enforcement proceedings in the magistrates' courts which is collected by the Lord Chancellor's Department includes the number of warrants issued each quarter committing non-payers to prison. These statistics are based on returns by justices' clerks. They are not routinely checked for accuracy although queries are followed up with the justices clerk concerned on an individual basis. The information collected does not purport to show the number of non-payers received into prison since in some cases payment is made following issue of a warrant.