New criminal courts charge 'could raise £170m'

A new charge to be imposed on convicted criminals, to help cover the cost of the courts, could raise up to £170m a year by 2020, the Ministry of Justice has predicted.

According to an impact assessment, published yesterday, the MoJ estimates that the cost of administering the criminal courts' charge could amount to £20m a year, with a further £5m needed to pay for extra prison places for those who refuse to pay.

However, the Moj calculated the "potential cash inflows" from the charge at £90-£170m per annum by 2019-20.

The measure, contained in the Criminal Justice and Courts bill, would enable courts to levy the charge after the payment of compensation, the victim surcharge, prosecution costs and fines.

Justice secretary Chris Grayling told the Commons earlier this week that offenders could earn their way out of the charge if they do not reoffend.

"We will make provision for the charge, or any outstanding sums of money, to be written off if the offender does not reoffend. There will, therefore, be an incentive to go back into work, get on with it and make regular payments."

Grayling defended the MoJ's record on the collection of fines.

"The collection rate of fines and other charges levelled in the courts is in excess of 80 per cent," he said.

"There is a large block of historical debt, much of which is paid by people who, for reasons that include that they have simply died, for accounting reasons have to stay on the books.

"I accept that that is daft and it is a matter of debate among accounting figures in government."

Grayling said he had "no reason to believe that these reforms will not lead to the collection of the many tens of millions of pounds we seek to collect, to make a contribution to the running of the court system".

The minister added that he did not believe it was right that "at a time when public finances are tight, the taxpayer continues to shoulder such a heavy burden for the cost of the criminal courts".

Franklin Sinclair, senior partner of Tuckers, commented: "In a lot of cases it will be like getting blood out of a stone.

"Financial penalties have increased and, in the Crown Court, if defendants have any money, they can face potentially heavy contributions to their legal aid. Prosecution costs have significantly increased.

"This has the feel of a new tax. The MoJ is trying every method it can to get to its financial target, but the figures for the collection of fines are not good.

"They should consider imposing a small surcharge to help cover the cost of legal aid - the cuts we face are so drastic. Some of the responses to the government's consultation suggested this."