§ John McDonnellTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many persons were fined by magistrates courts in England and Wales in each of the last three financial years; and what percentage of the fines were collected in each year. [173119]
§ Mr. LeslieInformation on the number of offenders is not available from magistrates courts systems. The latest Home Office statistics available, for the 2002 calendar year, showed that 970,400 offenders were fined by magistrates courts.
1367WA national payment rate of 76 per cent. was achieved in the last quarter of 2003–04. The full year outturn stood at 74 per cent. The payment rate in 2001–02 was 59 per cent. and 55 per cent. in 2002–03. These figures are not comparable with the 2003–04 data due to collection and calculation changes. In 2003–04 the payment rate was revised so that it focused clearly on fines and excluded confiscation orders, civil and family moneys and cancelled fines.