Offenders set to pay back their victims
All convicted criminals will pay towards supporting victims of crime, under new rules that come into force on Monday, justice minister Helen Grant announced today.
Currently a victim surcharge of £15 is paid by offenders who are fined on conviction. Under the new scheme, all convicted defendants, including those who are sent to prison, will have to pay a victim surcharge, that will increase the amount raised a year from around £10m to £50m.
Adults convicted of an offence committed on or after 1 October will have to pay 10% of any fine, up to a maximum of £120. Offenders given a conditional discharge will pay £15 and those given a community will have to pay £60.
Anyone given a custodial sentence has to contribute £80, £100 or £120 depending on length of sentence. The surcharge will not apply to any fixed-penalty notices, such those for motoring offences.
The money raised will go to support local organisations that have a proven track record in supporting victims, including childrens' groups and charities supporting victims of rape, domestic violence, hate crime, burglary, anti-social behaviour and other violent crime- including murder and manslaughter.
But enforcing payment may prove difficult. Statistics for January to March, published by the Ministry of Justice, revealed that the government is owed £593m in unpaid fines, including sums towards the victim surcharge.
Grant said: ‘Only one pound in every six that the government spends supporting victims of crime comes from offenders. Hardworking and innocent taxpayers pay for the rest. This balance is utterly wrong. It is something that I am determined to change.’
She added: ‘For the first time, more offenders will literally be made to pay for their crimes. And the more serious the sentence, the more they will be forced to pay. Criminals need to step up and recognise the impact their crime have on others – and they, not law-abiding taxpayers, should pay to help victims rebuild their lives.’
Comments
victim surcharge
Just yet another government headline grabbing device to convince 'Sun Readers' that they are staying on top of the feckless criminal fraternity and their equally fickle defence lawyers who will without doubt have to defend them in the notice to show cause applications as to why they should not be sent to prison for non payment. The system under which i previously worked as a defence lawyer didn't work - see above for amounts outstanding on unpaid fines/compensation - but from a practical point of view not only was a representation order granted to the defence lawyer on the grounds of likely loss of liberty to the defendant, but invariably the defendant either would not, or could not pay which resulted in a custodial sentence and yet more cost to the tax payer!
By raising the surcharge all it will do is raise the unpaid and by en large, certainly from a fiscal point, unenforceable debt. Especially so if a defendant has been given a custodial sentence as this raises the obvious point from what income can he or she pay this debt - sewing mailbags in HMP Durham?!!
In an ideal world there would be no crime and thus no requirement for fines/compensation/ surcharges, but we do not live in that place and are never likely to. But surely if a defendant is sent to prison for the index offence that should satisfy the criminal justice system as the system is not just about punishment but also rehabilitaion - or has that principle disappeared? When someone is discharged from a custodial sentence surely they should then be encouraged and assisted through the statutory agencies to 'pick up their lives' and not have a huge debt waiting for them at the gates of the prison with no reasonable means of paying that debt unless they revert to criminal activity.
It begs the question 'when will common sense prevail' with this or any other government who seem hell bent on destroying the existing compenstion systems by replacing them with unworkable ones.
If they have really been
If they have really been rehabilitated surely they will be keen to pay for something to assist victims of crime, since they are now really sorry and have seen the error of their ways??
Haha, a touch of sarcasm
Haha, a touch of sarcasm there David. Unfortunately rehabilitation for most prisoners is really not on the cards for the most part as our great British judicial system seems to lock up more people on short term custodial sentences where little or no rehab is carried out. Some judges and magistrates seem to take a more putative view and bang people away purely for punishment reasons. Even some civil offences eg non-payment of TV licences which are dealt with in the magistrates courts can lead to custodial sentences when the fines are not paid - not that that would attract a surcharge of course but i simply mention that to demonstrate the antiquated, some say quaint, process of our criminal justice system! On a more serious note most prisoners upon release get a small discharge grant to tide them over before a visit to the employment service to claim benefits. If you know how the benefit system works in the UK then you will understand that it is not an opportunity to 'live high on the hog'!
I agree with you that of course victims of crime should be compensated but we have a system where the poorest,least educated and a majority with severe psychiatric problems in society tend to end up in jail and are then persued by the bailiffs and courts for compensation which is not cost effective to collect. It also begs the question ' why is this government, as well as the previous one attempting to systematically dismantle the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority'?
However i think the point that i would make in the strongest possible terms is that this increase in surcharge is just another soundbite by a government who panders to the 'hang em and flog em brigade' of Daily Mail and Sun readers!