Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the value of court imposed fines for crimes committed that have been left unpaid; and what steps they are taking to recover payments due.

The amount of outstanding court fines as at 31st March for the financial year 2017/18 is detailed below.

The total amount of outstanding fines includes impositions made in the year stated or any previous year. It includes accounts that were not due to be paid by the end of the period specified and those that were being paid by instalments on agreed payment plans

This Government takes the recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to ensuring impositions are paid. The courts will do everything within their powers to trace those who do not pay and use a variety of means to ensure the recovery of criminal fines and financial penalties. Money can be deducted from an offender's earnings or from benefits if they are unemployed. Other ‘upfront’ compliance actions include, increased use of telephone and text message chasing and use of tracing tools. Warrants can be issued instructing approved enforcement agents to seize and sell goods belonging to the offender. Ultimately an offender can be imprisoned for non-payment of their fine.