Serious Violence Taskforce: Social Media

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Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value is of outstanding fines that were written off in each of the last four years.


Answered by
Shailesh Vara Portrait
Shailesh Vara
This question was answered on 2nd April 2014

The amounts of financial impositions administratively cancelled and legally cancelled in each year since 2009-10 are set out in the table below

Year

Legally Cancelled

Administratively Cancelled

2009/10

£58,277,772

£47,398,379

2010/11

£62,263,874

£50,712,367

2011/12

£63,957,203

£63,135,442

2012/13

£62,594,601

£75,868,426

The number of financial impositions administratively cancelled and legally cancelled in each year since 2011/12 are set out in the table below. Data on the number of financial impositions cancelled is not available prior to 2011/12.

Year

Legally Cancelled

Administratively Cancelled

2011/12

161,455

226,955

2012/13

165,195

269,486

It is not possible to identify the amounts or numbers written off for just the fine element. The amounts above therefore include all elements of financial penalties (excluding confiscation orders): fines, costs, compensation and victim surcharge. The amounts cancelled 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.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has carried out a fundamental review of financial penalty accounts, actively targeting accounts to achieve compliance at the earliest point, as well as tackling old accounts, and administratively cancelling them where there is no realistic chance of collection because they do not have enough information to trace the debtors. This explains the increase in the value of administrative cancellations seen in the figures.

This enabled HMCTS to focus resources on increasing collections on accounts which can be enforced, resulting in the record high level of collection in 2012/13.

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. 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) 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.

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