Large numbers of offenders are escaping justice by not paying fines

Edward Leigh MPs committee chairman

Edward Leigh, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, said it was particularly harsh that many victims of crime were having to wait a long time to get compensation.

Both the NAO and the Liberal Democrats say failure to collect more fines puts the credibility of such non-prison sentences at risk.

The report, published on Friday, says �143m - more than one-third - of fines, compensation and prosecution legal costs made by courts in 2000-01 was left unpaid.

Regional gaps

Last year, �77m in penalties was cancelled for a variety of reasons but �74m was lost largely because offenders could not be traced.

The figures also show sharp regional differences, with courts in Dyfed Powys, Wales, collecting all due fines, compared to less than half being paid in Merseyside, England.

Simon Hughes says magistrates courts need more resources

Those variations are partly explained by some courts dealing with far more offenders, as well as a lack of proper information to make complete comparisons.

NAO chairman Sir John Bourn said: "Apart from the cost, the failure to bring in the remainder could undermine the credibility of financial penalties as a form of punishment."

Ways of enforcing penalties needed to improve significantly, said Sir John.

He said magistrates should have more information before sentencing offenders, and that a wider range of sentencing options should be introduced.

'Few incentives'

Better training and other support for court staff was also needed, added Sir John.

Those worries were echoed by Conservative MP Mr Leigh, who said many offenders were escaping justice by not paying fines.

"This is a ridiculous state of affairs," he said. "There are few incentives to pay fines promptly and the result is that only a third of all financial penalties are paid without the need for enforcement action."

Mr Leigh said offenders' lives were often in chaos, with mounting debts, so the fines were unlikely ever to be paid.

"In these cases other types of sentence may need to be considered, such as community punishment or curfews," he added.

Credibility 'under threat'

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes accused the government of complacency over enforcing fines and other community sentences.

"Non-custodial sentences are a vital part of the criminal justice system, and effective enforcement is vital to their credibility," he said.

"Simply transferring responsibility for enforcement to magistrates' courts committees without also transferring resources and ensuring improvements in practice has not worked."

The government last month set out new measures to improve performance on enforcement.

For the first time a target has been set, aiming at ensuring 68% of fines are collected this year, up 5% from last year.

From next month, magistrates' courts committees will be allowed to use some of the money they do collect to fund better enforcement and recruit extra staff.