§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the total UK figure is for outstanding fines imposed by magistrates' courts. [74612]
§ Yvette CooperMagistrates' Courts Committees have a responsibility for the collection of a range of debts imposed by Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court, as well as other agencies. Debt collected includes not only fines, but also fees, compensation, confiscation orders, legal aid contributions and some maintenance orders. It is not possible to separate out only fines from the total, nor those imposed by Magistrates' courts and still outstanding.
The total "arrears" of debt at 31 March 2002 (which relates to England and Wales) was £246 million. However, most fines are paid by instalment, by agreement with the court, while the "arrears" figure reflects the fact that technically all of a debt is due immediately, whether or not an instalment order has been made.
The Government is committed to improving the enforcement of financial penalties and lead responsibility for warrant execution was transferred from the police to Magistrates' Courts Committees (MCCs) on 1 April 2001, giving MCCs control over the whole enforcement process.
Since then, we have established an information sharing scheme, which enables Magistrates' courts to obtain basic information on defaulters from the Department for Work and Pensions. We have also set performance targets for 2002–3 and MCCs have been provided with some £10 million extra from April 2002 under a netting-off scheme, ring-fenced for enforcement purposes.