§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
In how many cases people have been committed to prison by magistrates' courts for local lax default since the poll tax was introduced; and how many such committals were subsequently declared unlawful by the High Court. [HL166]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)Figures relating to the number of people committed to prison for non-payment of the community charge, council tax, are listed below. Information concerning the number of those committals subsequently declared unlawful by the High Court is not collected centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Year Committals to prison 1992 518 1993 1,538 1994 1,453 1995 884 1996 533 1997 410 1998 252 1999 137 2000 49 2001 40 NB. Information in this detail is not collected prior to 1992.