§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what percentage of fines are uncollected, broken down by magistrate area, in descending order, according to region. [180033]
§ Mr. LeslieInformation on fines imposed and collected is provided by the 42 Magistrates's Courts Committees (MCCs) in England and Wales. The attached table shows the number of live accounts outstanding as at the end of March 2004 and the payment rates for the last quarter of 2004. The figures for the number of live accounts are shown by descending order.
1325W
Number of live accounts as at end of March 2004, in descending order MCC Number of live accounts as attend
of March 20041,2
Payment rate for quarter 4
(January-March
2004)2
(Percentage)
Greater London 250,000 82 Merseyside 113,518 51 West Midlands 105,422 54 West Yorkshire 85,816 69 Greater Manchester 78,690 72 Northumbria 77,330 81 South Wales 67,061 76 Lancashire 64,724 90 Thames Valley 59,659 63 Devon and Cornwall 52,539 55 Avon and Somerset 52,252 77 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 49,147 68 Cheshire 49,110 78 Leicestershire 41,577 73 Staffordshire 39,348 67 South Yorkshire 38,942 101 Cleveland 36,027 114 North Wales 35,816 75 Gwent 35,396 84 Humberside 34,018 87 Kent 32,309 78 Derbyshire 31,583 89 Lincolnshire 31,297 75 Nottinghamshire 27,316 68 Dyfed Powys 26,644 102 Cambridgeshire 25,127 110 Dorset 23,265 69 Suffolk 22,699 71 Surrey 19,366 77 Essex 18,385 109 West Mercia 18,211 74 Wiltshire 18,156 92 Hertfordshire 14,865 63 Northamptonshire 14,421 81 Cumbria 11,086 91 Gloucestershire 10,993 61 Bedfordshire 10,721 84 Durham 8,885 93 Warwickshire 8,871 80 North Yorkshire 8,569 138 Norfolk 8,002 85 Sussex (d) — 95 England and Wales 1,757,163 76 Notes:
1. The number of Accounts may include more than one fine per offender. MCCs have the option of consolidating a number of fines for the same person under one fine account. Those MCCs (and it can vary within that MCC) that choose this facility are unable to state how many fines are held in total under each consolidated account.
2. This includes Fines, Legal Aid, Costs, Community Penalty Costs and Compensation.
3. Sussex MCC operate a unique collection system and are consequently unable to provide this information.
NB: The payment rate can not be directly compared to number of live accounts to show what percentage of fines is uncollected. The number of accounts provides a snapshot of the number of live fines on a given day, and can include outstanding accounts from previous years. The payment rate shows the amount of money collected by an MCC as a percentage of that imposed within the time period. All figures shown are inclusive of Fines, Legal Aid, Costs, Community Penalty Costs and Compensation.