Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was levied in fines by each magistrates court in Greater Manchester in each of the last five years; what proportion of such fines were written off by each court; and what proportion of such fines were collected.

Shailesh Vara

It is not possible to identify the amounts imposed, written off and collected for individual magistrates courts as data on fines imposed is recorded by local accounting divisions. The only way data for individual courts could be obtained is to carry out a manual search of all fine accounts.

The total amounts imposed, written off and collected in the Greater Manchester accounting division are set out below:

Year	Total imposed	Total administratively cancelled	Total legally cancelled	Total collected
2008/09	£19,635,012	£1,902,853	£2,805,105	£11,673,192
2009/10	£19,267,431	£1,973,017	£3,019,911	£11,802,052
2010/11	£22,558,446	£1,229,895	£2,847,562	£12,063,589
2011/12	£19,125,753	£2,216,073	£3,933,432	£12,265,100
2012/13	£21,654,640	£2,204,046	£4,586,675	£12,952,842

The amounts above include all elements of financial impositions (excluding confiscation orders): fines, costs, compensation and victim surcharge. The amounts cancelled or collected in a particular year can relate to impositions from that year or any previous year.

Financial penalties are only administratively cancelled after all attempts to collect the amount outstanding have been made, and in accordance with strict cancellation criteria. These penalties can be written back on to the system if more information is found – for instance, a new address for the offender.

Legal cancellations can be applied after the case has been reconsidered by a Judge or Magistrate. Typically, legal cancellations are used where a case has been re-opened and the defendant has been found not guilty, following the presentation of additional information. Legal cancellations can be full or partial remittances of financial penalties.

The table below sets out how much of the value imposed in Greater Manchester in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 financial years was collected or cancelled by the end of the same financial year which it was imposed. This data is only available from April 2011 onwards.

Year	Imposed	Collected	Cancelled (administrative and legal)
2011/12	£19,125,753	£6,036,385	£1,832,554
2012/13	£21,654,640	£6,537,941	£3,111,387

The amounts above again include all elements of financial impositions. The balance amount imposed that is remaining at the end of the financial year will include amounts that were being paid by instalments or were not due for payment by that time.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) takes the issue of financial penalty enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. HMCTS actively pursues all outstanding impositions until certain they cannot be collected. Total collection reached an all time high at the end of 2012/13 and collection has continued to rise in this financial year. At the end of September 2013 total collection (all imposition types excluding confiscation orders) across HMCTS was higher than the same point in the previous year and the outstanding balance had reduced since the start of the financial year. On average over the last 12 month 69% of accounts have been either closed or are compliant with payment terms by 12 months after imposition.

HMCTS are actively seeking an external provider for the future delivery of compliance and enforcement services. This will bring the necessary investment and innovation to significantly improve the collection of criminal financial penalties and reduce the cost of the service to the taxpayer.