HL Deb 28 November 2002 vol 641 cc68-70WA
Baroness Anelay of St Johns

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the total amount of unenforced and uncollected fines in England and Wales in 2000 and 2001. [HL83]

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)

Magistrates' courts committees have responsibility for the collection of a range of financial penalties imposed by the courts, including not only fines, but also fees, compensation, confiscation orders and some maintenance orders. The table below shows the arrears for the financial years in question. It is not possible to extract fines from the total, and neither is it possible to differentiate between the amount of debt that is uncollected and the amount of debt that is unenforced, as this is not reported to the Court Service.

England & Wales True arrears Actual arrears1
1999–2000 £417,501,826 £227,361,076
2000–01 £419,137,608 £225,908,941
1 True arrears are the amount of the debt outstanding, including debt that is being collected in instalments but not yet dui; for payment. Actual arrears are the amount of outstanding instalments that are in arrears.