§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the total level of fines imposed by Liverpool Magistrates' Court was in each year since 1998–99. [66689]
§ Yvette CooperMagistrates' Courts have responsibility for the collection of a range of debts imposed through the courts, including not only fines but also fees, compensation, confiscation orders, legal aid contributions and some maintenance orders. It is not possible to separate out just fines from the total.
Liverpool Magistrates' Court has imposed the following amount of debt:
- April 2001–March 2002—£3,754,209
- April 2000–March 2001—£5,053,315
- April 1999–March 2000—£5,523,974
- April 1998–March 1999—£5,459,562
The fall in impositions over the period April 2001 to March 2002 was due to the fact that under the Human Rights Act introduced in October 2000 some of the accommodation at Liverpool was judged to be unsuitable and so work had to be transferred to other courts within Merseyside while remedial building work was completed at Liverpool.