Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value is of uncollected victims surcharges in each year since 2010.

The figures shown in the table below are cumulative amounts outstanding at the end of each year.

Receipts received in relation to an imposition is applied to the defendant’s account using a strict statutory hierarchy which ensures that any compensation owed by the defendant is cleared before any other element such as victim surcharge.

There are a number of other reasons why the amounts can remain outstanding for a long period of time, such as; agreed instalment plans; defendant cannot be traced; changes in the defendant’ disposable income circumstances and; the defendant serving a prison sentence and no longer having any income.”