Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many fines for licensing offences have been charged at the higher rate since the maximum fine was increased in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011; and what total amount has been raised from the increased fines.

Fines imposed in individual cases are entirely a matter for the independent courts within the limits set by Parliament and following any relevant sentencing guidelines. The law requires that the amount of any fine must reflect both the seriousness of the offence and the known financial circumstances of the offender.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service takes the issue of fine enforcement very seriously and is working to ensure that clamping down on fine defaulters is a continued priority nationwide. The courts have a range of powers to enforce payment of fines, including the use of bailiffs to seize goods, and deductions from earnings or benefits. Over recent years we have overseen improvements to the collection of financial penalties. There was a total of £290m collected against fines and related impositions in 2013/14 which was a record high and 2% more than the previous year.

The Government takes the offence of sale of alcohol to minors (s 146 and s 147A of the Licensing Act 2003) very seriously and for this reason in April 2012 raised the maximum fine for the offence of persistently selling alcohol to a person under the age of 18 to £20,000 (under s 147A) in cases where alcohol has been sold twice within a period of three months from the same premises.

The number of offenders convicted and sentenced to the maximum custody or fine, by selected offences under the Licensing Act 2003, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in the table below.

It is not possible to identify how much has been collected against fines imposed for specific offences without carrying out a manual search of all fine account records held by Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service. This information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.