§ Mrs. LaingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many fixed penalties were imposed by Scottish218W courts last year in (a) Scotland as a whole and (b) each individual sheriffdom, broken down by offence; and what was (i) their total value and (ii) the total amount of money recovered. [71872]
§ Mr. McLeishScottish courts do not impose a conditional offer of a fixed penalty. The decision whether to offer an alleged offender a fixed penalty (fiscal fine) is a matter for the Procurator Fiscal. The police or the Procurator Fiscal can also offer a fixed penalty for certain road traffic offences.
The numbers of criminal reports concluded by way of a fiscal fine in each of the sheriffdoms in Scotland and in total for 1997–98 are as follows:
Sheriffdoms Number Grampian, Highland and Islands 2,136 Tayside, Central and Fife 3,003 Lothian and Borders 1,582 North Strathclyde 2,651 South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway 4,088 Glasgow and Strathkelvin 5,501 All Scotland 18,961 This information cannot be broken down by offence.
In 1997–98 approximately £527,000 was collected by the district courts from the payment of fiscal fines.
The 1997 provisional figures for fixed penalties dealt with by the police by force area and type of offence are as follows:
Force area Moving vehicle offences1 Stationery vehicle offences Central 6,943 16,349 Dumfries and Galloway 8,003 7,206 Fife 5,543 17,779 Grampian 14,938 30,279 Lothian and Borders 22,305 117,644 Northern 5,902 11,138 Strathclyde 51,536 210,567 Tayside 8,444 27,719 Scotland 123,614 438,681 1Includes speeding vehicle excise licence, parking, motorway traffic, seat belt and other motor vehicle offences Information on conditional offers of a fixed penalty made by the Procurator Fiscal for road traffic offences is not held centrally.
In 1997–98, the district courts received approximately £6.7 million in fixed penalty payments.
From 1 July, Procurator Fiscal conditional offers (fiscal fines) will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament. Fixed penalties for road traffic offences will be reserved.
§ Mrs. LaingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in how many cases where a fixed penalty was imposed civil diligence was initiated in 1998 in(a) Scotland as a whole and (b) each individual sheriffdom; how much money was so recovered; and if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to recover the amount owing from fines. [71873]
219W
§ Mr. McLeishThe district courts in Scotland collect fixed penalty payments. In 1997–98, civil diligence was used to collect unpaid fixed penalties (including fiscal fines) in 34,071 cases.
Information on the amounts recovered by diligence is not held centrally.
Recovery of unpaid fixed penalties can be done in a number of ways. It is for the courts to determine how best to recover these fines taking account of the individual circumstances of each case.
From 1 July 1999 this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.