§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total annual cost in England and Wales of imprisoning(a) men, (b) women and (c) men and women for the non-payment of a television licence fine. [1925]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary director general of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 28 November 1995.
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what is the total annual cost in England and Wales of imprisoning (a) men, (b) women, and (c) men and women for non-payment of a television licence fine.Information on the cost of prisoners according to their type of offence is not collected centrally. On the basis of the number normally in custody—under 10—we estimate the costs of imprisoning these defaulters to be up to £200,000 a year, approximately 67% for men and 33% for women.
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the discrepancies of imprisonment rates for television licence fine defaulters in(a) England and Wales and (b) Scotland. [1979]
668W
§ Mr. MacleanImprisonment cannot be imposed for television licence evasion. It may be imposed by the courts only where an offender has failed to pay a fine imposed upon conviction for failing to have a television licence. A total of 763 people in England and Wales were imprisoned in 1994 for non payment of a fine imposed for television licence evasion. Information is not held centrally on the proportionate use of imprisonment for fine defaulters, where the fine was imposed for television licence evasion, as between England and Wales. Court procedures relating to fine enforcement in Scotland are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.