Debts Written Off
Attorney-General
Gareth Thomas (Harrow West, Labour)
To ask the Attorney-General how much bad debt was written off by the Law Officers' Departments in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.
Edward Garnier (Solicitor General; Harborough, Conservative)
The amount of bad debt written off by the Law Officers' Departments during the last two financial years is contained in the following table:
| £ | ||
| Department | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
| Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)(1) | 2,700,000 | (4)4,500,000 |
| Serious Fraud Office (SFO)(2) | — | (4)274,000 |
| Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol)(3) | 87,104 | 81,883 |
| HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate | — | — |
| Attorney-General's Office | — | — |
| (1) The majority of debts written off by the CPS relate to unpaid costs awards made against convicted defendants at the discretion of a judge or magistrate. A small number of low value commercial bad debts were also written off. (2) This debt related to two costs awards made in February 2004 (£124,000) and October 2007 (£150,000), for which the SFO had exhausted all avenues of recovery. (3) TSol provides legal services primarily to other Government Departments. In deciding to write off a debt it gives due consideration to the age of debt, administration cost of recovery and whether a loss to government funds would result. TSol invoices in excess of £100 million per annum. The write-off in 2010-11 and 2011-12 represents less than 0.1% of income. (4) Figures provided for 2011-12 are unaudited and may be subject to minor adjustment. | ||