By Nick Mann | 23 November 2011
The Ministry of Justice is owed almost £2bn in outstanding fines and uncollected criminal assets, the National Audit Office revealed today.
It is owed £610m in outstanding fines, 25% more than five years ago, and £1.259bn in assets that should have been confiscated from criminals, a £388m increase over the previous year. The auditors also found a £121m shortfall between the cost of court services and the fees charged.
Reporting on the department’s financial performance for 2010/11, the NAO said this showed there was ‘room for improvement’ in how the department collected income. ‘The ministry should make more progress dealing with the strategic difficulties that hinder improvements in collecting fees, fines and assets under confiscation orders,’ it explained.
In response, a ministry spokesman said the department’s Courts & Tribunal Service was working hard to improve how it collects money owed from confiscation orders.
‘CTS is keen to collect as much as possible from defendants and continually looks at new ways to monitor performance and ensure that defendants pay their confiscation orders in full,’ he said.
He added: ‘CTS contributed £44.5m (41%) of the total recovered nationally (in 2010/11) which was a 19% increase on the £37m recovered by during 2009/10.’
The NAO’s report found that, in general, there had been ‘considerable and welcome improvements’ in the department’s financial management since it was last audited in 2010, concluding that financial management was now much more central to its operations.
The quality and consistency of financial planning and forecasting had also improved, it added.
But the delays in publication of the department’s accounts – it was one of only two not to publish accounts for 2010/11 until after the summer recess – showed more improvement was also needed here, especially in light of the budget cuts it faced.
NAO head Amyas Morse said today: ‘The Ministry of Justice has made considerable and welcome improvements to its financial management since I last reported. This is crucially important if the ministry is to meet its cost reduction targets.
‘However, the ministry should not underestimate how much there is still to do. Collection of fines and assets due has not improved; the Legal Services Commission needs to reduce the error rate in its payment of legal aid; and good financial management must become business as usual.’
The MoJ spokesman welcomed the report’s conclusions on the overall progress made by the department.
He said: ‘We've reduced overpayments on legal aid by 35% in the last year, and we are clamping down on fine dodgers with more than £282m of fines collected in the same period.
‘All this has been achieved in a difficult economic environment, and we are determined to continue these improvements, taking on board the NAO's recommendations.’
The Ministry of Justice is owed almost £2bn in outstanding fines and uncollected criminal assets, the National Audit Office revealed today.
It is owed £610m in outstanding fines, 25% more than five years ago, and £1.259bn in assets that should have been confiscated from criminals, a £388m increase over the previous year. The auditors also found a £121m shortfall between the cost of court services and the fees charged.
Reporting on the department’s financial performance for 2010/11, the NAO said this showed there was ‘room for improvement’ in how the department collected income. ‘The ministry should make more progress dealing with the strategic difficulties that hinder improvements in collecting fees, fines and assets under confiscation orders,’ it explained.
In response, a ministry spokesman said the department’s Courts & Tribunal Service was working hard to improve how it collects money owed from confiscation orders.
‘CTS is keen to collect as much as possible from defendants and continually looks at new ways to monitor performance and ensure that defendants pay their confiscation orders in full,’ he said.
He added: ‘CTS contributed £44.5m (41%) of the total recovered nationally (in 2010/11) which was a 19% increase on the £37m recovered by during 2009/10.’
The NAO’s report found that, in general, there had been ‘considerable and welcome improvements’ in the department’s financial management since it was last audited in 2010, concluding that financial management was now much more central to its operations.
The quality and consistency of financial planning and forecasting had also improved, it added.
But the delays in publication of the department’s accounts – it was one of only two not to publish accounts for 2010/11 until after the summer recess – showed more improvement was also needed here, especially in light of the budget cuts it faced.
NAO head Amyas Morse said today: ‘The Ministry of Justice has made considerable and welcome improvements to its financial management since I last reported. This is crucially important if the ministry is to meet its cost reduction targets.
‘However, the ministry should not underestimate how much there is still to do. Collection of fines and assets due has not improved; the Legal Services Commission needs to reduce the error rate in its payment of legal aid; and good financial management must become business as usual.’
The MoJ spokesman welcomed the report’s conclusions on the overall progress made by the department.
He said: ‘We've reduced overpayments on legal aid by 35% in the last year, and we are clamping down on fine dodgers with more than £282m of fines collected in the same period.
‘All this has been achieved in a difficult economic environment, and we are determined to continue these improvements, taking on board the NAO's recommendations.’
