This report forms part of our follow-up to our research to our previous report, “Where the hell am I going to get that money from?”: The impact of court fines on people on low incomes, where we have been exploring recommendations for reform. In a companion report, we look at policy reforms and the use of alternative punishments when people are unable to pay fines. In this report, we focus on ways of improving the court and payment process.
Through a combination of research methods, we have created a detailed map of how key existing processes are working in practice, generated ideas for reform in partnership with key stakeholders, and tested these with service users, court practitioners and officials as well as stakeholders with knowledge of financial inclusion. We propose six key changes to the system of fines and financial orders in magistrates’ courts.