---

HM Land Registry

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Chief Executive

22 Jan 2002 : Column 801W

of HM Land Registry will reply to the letter of 24 November 2001 from Dr. and Mrs. Pim about case reference 700/01/202. [29374]

Mr. Wills: Correspondence about individual land registration cases is a matter for the Chief Land Registrar. The Land Registry's target for responding to letters connected with a complaint is five working days. In the current financial year to December 2001, it met this target in 92 per cent. of cases. I understand that, owing to an administrative error, Dr. and Mrs. Pim's letter was regrettably mislaid in the Land Registry and a reply was not sent within the target time. I also understand that the Chief Land Registrar wrote to Dr. and Mrs. Pim on 18 January to apologise for the delay in writing to them and to give them the information they required.

Stolen Equipment

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what equipment has been stolen from the Lord Chancellor's Department since 1 May 1997; and what the approximate value of each item was. [26832]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This answer relates to the Department's offices and courts throughout England and Wales. Of the total figure for the year 2000–01 of £151,603.48 (listed in the table), £129,000 resulted from four separate incidents of theft. This comprises the separate figures of £73,000 (12 April 2000), £15,000 (18 May 2000), £16,000 (28 June 2000) and £25,000 (11 November 2000). Of these amounts, the cheques included in the figure of £73,000 have been recovered and the remainder (cash) was borne by one of the Department's PFI contractors. The figure of £15,000 was also borne by a PFI contractor. The figures are as in the table.

Date of incident	Items stolen/lost	Value (£)
	Financial year 1997–98
11 April 1997	Cash	200.00
26 April 1997	Cash	55.00
1 May 1997	TV/video	450.00
11 May 1997	Cash	500.00
11 May 1997	Printers x 4	1,000.00
16 May 1997	Video recorder	350.00
20 May 1997	Printer	250.00
22 May 1997	Laser printer fax machine	250.00
3 June 1997	Laptop	1,000.00
1 July 1997	Recorder and CD	1,000.00
23 July 1997	PC mouse	10.00
17 August 1997	Laser printer	250.00
18 August 1997	Pen	150.00
9 September 1997	Laptop	1,500.00
15 September 1997	Video recorder	250.00
7 November 1997	Desk tops x 5 and printer	300.00
22 November 1997	Video recorder	250.00
16 December 1997	PC	1,500.00
22 December 1997	Laptop	1,500.00
6 January 1998	Laptop	1,000.00
9 January 1998	PC	1,000.00
12 January 1998	PC mouse	10.00
12 January 1998	Printer, keyboard and telephone	250.00
17 February 1998	Answering machine	73.00
5 March 1998	Assorted cutlery	65.00
12 March 1998	External security light	100.00
19 March 1998	Laptop	50.00
19 March 1998	Colour TV and file server	50.00
20 March 1998	File server and chips	3,000.00
21 March 1998	Cufflinks	50.00
27 March 1998	Cash	160.00
29 March 1998	Keyboards x 4, mouse and barcode reader	300.00
29 March 1998	Pocket memo recorder	10.00
Total		16,883.00
	Financial year 1998–99
03 April 1998	Cash	230.00
14 April 1998	Contents of payphone	80.00
18 May 1998	PC	150.00
19 May 1998	CPU's missing	1,000.00
29 May 1998	Video recorder	200.00
29 May 1998	Printer cables	20.00
2 June 1998	Mobile phone	100.00
12 June 1998	Computers x 4	4,000.00
12 June 1998	PC	250.00
24 June 1998	Laptop	1,300.00
27 June 1998	TV and CD radio	800.00
29 June 1998	TV/video, TV, radio	800.00
6 July 1998	CD	49.00
10 July 1998	Wallet	130.00
11 July 1998	Safe and laser printer	50.00
14 July 1998	Laptop	2,000.00
15 July 1998	Safe	1,015.00
20 July 1998	Cash	102.00
21 July 1998	Roof Lead	1,500.00
21 July 1998	External security camera	200.00
24 July 1998	Laptop	1,300.00
27 July 1998	First aid boxes	148.00
5 August 1998	Pen and lighter	90.00
6 August 1998	Office CD	350.00
12 August 1998	CD/radio	129.00
20 August 1998	Mobile phone	95.00
17 September 1998	Video recorder	350.00
24 September 1998	Printer	200.00
9 October 1998	Printer	49.00
21 October 1998	Handbag and contents	110.00
21 October 1998	Laptop	49.00
29 October 1998	Printer	700.00
20 November 1998	Laptop	49.00
10 December 1998	Laptop	2,500.00
14 December 1998	Handbag and contents	50.00
16 December 1998	Vacuum cleaner	100.00
19 March 1999	Laptop	49.00
29 March 1999	Specialist phone	50.00
1 April 1999	Payphone and cash	500.00
Total		20,844.00
	Financial year 1999–2000
10 April 1999	Cash	67.00
26 April 1999	Payphone	505.00
9 May 1999	Roof Lead	500.00
10 May 1999	PC	49.00
15 June 1999	Mobile phone	113.00
4 July 1999	Union flag and rope	65.00
11 August 1999	PC	1,500.00
16 August 1999	Keyboard and printer	49.00
17 August 1999	Payphone	340.00
20 August 1999	Laptop	1,500.00
20 August 1999	Laptop	1,500.00
24 August 1999	Payphone	340.00
15 September 1999	Cash	340.00
16 September 1999	Payphone	200.00
26 September 1999	TV and CD player	318.85
13 October 1999	Mobile phone	158.25
21 October 1999	Mobile phone	50.00
28 October 1999	PC	49.00
29 November 1999	Wallet and contents	120.00
30 November 1999	Attempt to defraud court service	49.00
9 December 1999	Laptop	200.00
10 January 2000	Hard drives x 3	600.00
13 January 2000	Video camera	500.00
20 January 2000	Purse	49.00
1 February 2000	Laptop	49.00
2 February 2000	Payphone	50.00
19 February 2000	Union flag	40.00
16 March 2000	Dictaphone	69.81
19 March 2000	Vending machine	340.00
Total		9,710.91
	Financial year 2000–01
3 April 2000	Barrier rope	116.00
3 April 2000	Rope	116.32
12 April 2000	Cash and cheques	73,000.00
12 April 2000	Cashbox	49.00
21 April 2000	Electronic postal scales	500.00
29 April 2000	Tape recorder	38.42
18 May 2000	PC base units x 15	15,000.00
13 June 2000	Handbag and personal palm pilot	400.00
22 June 2000	TV/video	250.00
28 June 2000	PC's x 54	16,000.00
1 July 2000	Laptop	1,500.00
3 July 2000	Mobile phone	50.00
3 July 2000	Mobile phone	50.00
27 July 2000	Cash	2,300.00
8 August 2000	Mobile phone	117.50
10 August 2000	Laptop	1,000.00
30 August 2000	Union flag	109.24
20 September 2000	Payphone	550.00
21 September 2000	Laptop	500.00
27 September 2000	Laptop	1,500.00
27 September 2000	Laptop	1,500.00
28 September 2000	TV/video	160.00
28 September 2000	TV/video	160.00
6 October 2000	PC	150.00
11 November 2000	Laptops x 9, keyboards x 2, projector and mobile phone	25,000.00
15 November 2000	Laptop	500.00
16 December 2000	Cash	140.00
8 January 2001	PTO break in	49.00
11 January 2001	Department mobile phone	100.00
2 February 2001	CCTV camera	600.00
21 March 2001	Laptop	49.00
26 March 2001	Data stolen	49.00
Total		151,603.48

22 Jan 2002 : Column 803W

Magistrates Courts

Mr. Luff: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the sum imposed as fines by magistrates courts in the latest 12-month period for which figures are available; how much of that total was collected; and if he will make a statement. [28595]

Mr. Wills: Magistrates courts committees are responsible for the collection of a range of debts imposed through the courts, including fines, fees, compensation, confiscation orders, legal aid contributions and some maintenance orders. It is not possible to separate out just the fines from the total.

The total amount imposed by magistrates in the period October 2000 to September 2001 was £358,702,837. Further amounts were imposed by other agencies, including the Crown court, making a total of new impositions which the magistrates courts had responsibility for collecting of £374,440,914.

The total amount of money collected by the courts in the same period was £232,220,021. Most fines etc are paid by instalment, by agreement with the court. Some of the instalments on impositions made in 2000–01 are therefore not yet due for payment. The gap between the amount imposed and the amount collected is due in part to defendants' inability to pay as well as their attempts to avoid payment. Severe sanctions are available to the courts for non-payment, including the seizure of goods and imprisonment. Nevertheless the present situation leaves much room for improvement. The Access to Justice Act 1999 strengthened the powers of the magistrates courts committees to take effective action against defaulters and we have introduced an information sharing arrangement with the Department of Work and Pensions, which enables magistrates courts committees to trace a significantly increased proportion of defaulters.

22 Jan 2002 : Column 804W

---