§ Shona McIsaacTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps she is taking to improve enforcement performance and if she will make a statement. [40170]
§ Mr WillisThe Lord Chancellor has today announced challenging targets for Magistrates Courts Committees for 2002–03 for enforcement of financial and non-financial penalties, as follows:
Enforcement of Financial Penalties
An increase of five per cent on the 2000–01 national average payment rate, i.e rising from 63 per cent. to 68 per cent.
1555WEnforcement of community penalty breach warrants 75 per cent. of adult bail and no-bail warrants executed or withdrawn within 28 days of issue, and 75 per cent. of youth bail and no-bail warrants executed or withdrawn within 14 days of issue.
Magristrates Courts Committees will be given nearly £10 million extra from April 2002, ring-fenced for enforcement, to enable them to improve performance. We will expect the amount of fine money recovered to increase as a result of the extra funding and will monitor the position carefully to ensure that performance improves.
We are already taking forward a programme of work to improve enforcement arising from the Department's Post Implementation Review of the Transfer of Warrant Execution project. The Post Implementation Review report will be published on the Department's website on 5 March. We shall be holding a series of conferences for enforcement practitioners in April. These will be followed by the establishment of a Criminal Enforcement Policy Advisory Group, which will be tasked with exploring and evaluating good practice initiatives, revising and updating guidance and taking forward other issues arising from the conferences to improve enforcement.
Copies of the Post Implementation Review report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 5 March.