Online and automated fines payments have risen to nearly £6 million in the past 12 months as enforcement measures help to ensure strong collection rates.
A total of £5.7 million was paid in the year to October 2015, an increase of almost £1 million from the £4.8 million collected during the 12 months to October 2014.
The amount recovered directly from benefits for unpaid fines has also risen to £1.78million over the same period, up by £30,000.
A report released by the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) today shows that 86% of the value of sheriff court fines imposed in the three-year period between 1 April, 2012 and 31 March, 2015 has either been fully paid or is on track to be paid through instalments. In the period 1 April, 2015 to 30 June, 2015 87% of the value of sheriff court fines has been, or is on track to be paid.
The SCTS has a range of powers in place to collect unpaid fines which include taking money directly from wages, bank accounts or benefits, clamping cars and even stopping people travelling through sea and airports.
In recent months, four people have been arrested at airports around Scotland and south of the Border in the drive to make fines defaulters pay up.
Between August and November, two people travelling through Glasgow Airport were held on warrants for outstanding fines amounting to more than £1,000, while a Fife man was arrested at Edinburgh Airport and an Ayrshire man was stopped at Bristol Airport on a Scottish warrant.
At Glasgow Airport, a Dumfries woman who owed £500 for two road traffic offences was arrested when she was re-entering the country after a holiday abroad. The woman’s grandmother had to pay the fines to police in Dumfries to enable her granddaughter to be released.
An Aberdeen man on his way to Dubai from Glasgow got a shock when he was arrested on a warrant issued at Aberdeen Sheriff and JP Court for £745 for a road traffic offence. The man had to pay up in full on the spot before he could continue his journey to the Gulf.
A New Cumnock man was stopped at Bristol Airport. The HGV driver had been issued with a £300 penalty on the M6 in Cumbria for a driving offence. After warning letters and agreements to pay were ignored, an arrest warrant was issued and the man was detained at Bristol where he settled the fine in full.
And at Edinburgh Airport, a Dunfermline man who owed £845 for two unpaid fines was stopped as he was about to fly out on holiday. One of the fines was from an English court and the man paid them before he was able to leave.
SCTS Acting Chief Operations Officer David Fraser said: “The fines enforcement team is highly effective in securing unpaid fines - ignoring your fine and not speaking to an enforcement officer if you are having difficulty paying is very unwise. Once a warrant is issued you will be detained in custody unless you are able to pay the full outstanding balance when the police enforce the warrant.”
All defaulters are issued warnings before action is taken. Those in genuine financial difficulty can engage with enforcement officers to discuss payment terms.
Court imposed fines, as well as most penalties issued by the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service, can be paid by phoning 0300 790 0003. Police issued penalties or those requiring endorsement of a driving record cannot be paid using the new system.
Most fines can also be paid on our secure website at www.scotcourts.gov.uk/payyourfine only fines which involve the endorsement of a driving record cannot be paid electronically.
For those penalties that cannot be paid using the online or telephone payment systems, customers can post payments to Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, Central Processing Unit, PO Box 23, Glasgow, G59 9DA or take it in person to any Scottish court fines office.
Notes
- Fine defaulters are not named for data protection reasons.
- A copy of the most recent SCTS Quarterly Fines Report is available at: http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/about-the-scottish-court-service/reports-data
- Many fines are paid by instalments over the course of two or more years which will affect collection rate figures.
- Most of the money collected through fines payment is sent to the UK Treasury under devolution arrangements set up within the Scotland Act 1998.