§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What provision they have made for the procurement and training of fines officers, a role proposed to be created by the Courts Bill in light of the recently published White Paper on the forthcoming anti-social behaviour Bill and its proposals for the use of fines as a punishment. [HL2256]
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg)There are no statutory requirements in the Courts Bill as to grade, qualification or experience of fines officers. However it is expected that fines officers will largely be drawn from existing MCC staff, many of whom have long experience in dealing with defaulters.
The precise role of fines officers will be piloted alongside other measures in the fines collection scheme. Once pilot areas have been identified, discussions about the specifics of the fines officer's role will begin with justices chief executives, including the provision of training.
The specific training a fines officer will require may be further developed throughout the pilots and guidelines may then be given to all courts prior to a national roll-out of the scheme.
Regulations, which will be developed after Royal Assent to the Courts Bill, will provide details about the fines collection scheme and guidance will also be provided for the fines officers to help them in their work; this may be further developed during the running of the pilots.