Current status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 19 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13585 by Kenny MacAskill on 5 June 2008, what criteria are used to calculate the amount of money collected from each commission area district court that is forwarded to HM Treasury.
Information on the amount of money collected by each commission area district court and forwarded to HM Treasury is provided to the Scottish Government by the individual local authorities in each commission area. They do not detail the specific criteria they have used in making these returns, however the basis on which money could be retained or forwarded in 2006-07 and previous years was as follows:
Local authorities were allowed to retain all income from fiscal fines and from fines imposed upon conviction for common law offences. They also retained a set proportion of income received for fixed penalty notices for certain road traffic offences. This proportion was set at 10%, but increased to 33% in the case of penalties for stationary vehicles where the fine became registered. Money received from fines imposed upon conviction for statutory offences was forwarded to HM Treasury, as was the balance of fixed penalty notice payments for road traffic offences.