Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the collection rates for (a) fines, (b) penalties and (c) confiscation orders have been in each of the last five years.

This Government takes recovery and enforcement of financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to finding new ways to ensure impositions are paid and to trace those who do not pay. This is why there has been a year on year increase in the total amount of financial penalties collected over the last four years. The amount of money collected has risen from £290m at the end of 2013/14 to a record of £310 million at the end of 2014/15. This is an increase of £20m (7%) in cash collection of financial impositions (excluding confiscation) compared to that collected in 2013/14.

The table below shows the percentage of the value of fines that had been collected, cancelled or remained outstanding at the end of each of the last four financial years. This data is not available before April 2011.

This includes accounts that were not due to be paid by the end of the period specified (either because they were imposed close to the end of the year or because they had payment timescales set by the courts for beyond the end of the financial year) and those that were being paid by instalments on agreed payment plans. Many of these impositions will have been paid since the end of the financial years stated.

The ‘accounts cancelled’ percentage includes both administrative and legal cancellations. It is not possible to split the figures between the two types of cancellation.

Administrative cancellations only take place in certain circumstances and after all attempts to collect the amount outstanding have been made. These circumstances include where the offender has died, where they have emigrated with no prospect of return, where the offender has been sent to a mental institution for 12 months or more or where the offender cannot be traced and there has been at least 12 months from the point of imposition. It should be noted that administrative cancellations can be re-instated if the prospects of recovery improve (where, for example, a new address is found).

Legal cancellations occur after the case has been reconsidered by a judge or magistrate and further evidence has been presented. Legal cancellations can be as a result of a successful appeal, a change in financial circumstances of the offender or a committal to prison for non payment.

We do not record ‘collection rate’ figures for Confiscation orders and fixed penalties.