The honest answer is that I do not have the figures. I suspect that the hon. Gentleman is right that the number of fine defaulters has increased. That has been the subject of a recent investigation by the National Audit Office. We should be concerned about that matter, but it is a question of what is the appropriate remedy. Imprisonment is rarely the appropriate remedy, but we have discussed other remedies in the Bill's context. The hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) made the excellent suggestion of credit rating, which I still hope will find its way into Government thinking by circuitous means. We have discussed preventing the use of motor vehicles, which is a sensible route and one appropriate to the misdemeanour of default—I will not use the word crime. Prison is probably not the appropriate way to deal with it, especially in the context of the rapidly burgeoning prison population, which we discussed earlier.

I welcome what the Minister said about the proposal. Prison is used as a sanction for default in some sorts of cases; in others, which gave cause for concern a few years ago, it is used less often. It was a ridiculous misuse of the system to put people into prison for TV licence evasion, which is essentially a civil debt, or for council tax offences. Contempt of court is the largest category and it is probably right that prison should remain as the appropriate sanction open to the court for contempt. We need to explore alternative, and better, ways to enforce fines so that they retain their deterrent quality, which should be the basis of their effect. Imprisonment is not the best, or the most cost-effective, way of dealing with the matter, notwithstanding the ameliorative effect of the Minister's proposal.