Road safety cash lost to fines loophole


22 August 2003 11:56

THOUSANDS of pounds in speeding fines are being swallowed up by legal fees and drained from new life-saving road safety schemes in Norfolk.

The Norfolk Casualty Reduction Partnership, who operate the county's safety cameras, are losing out on more than £200,000 a year because fines imposed on motorists in court go directly to the Treasury.

Norfolk's network of 18 fixed speed cameras trapped 35,324 speeding motorists between July 2002 and the end of June this year — in theory netting more than £2 million.

This total was significantly reduced because about one in 10 per cent of motorists issued with fines end up in court — hitting the partnership's ability to fund future road safety measures.

Spokesman Bryan Edwards said that every time a motorist trapped by one of their cameras appears before a court, the partnership had to cover the cost.

The money raised in fines then bypasses Norfolk and goes straight to the Government.

On the basis of £60 for a ticket the amount made from speeding motorists is about £2,100,000 a year.

Mr Edwards said: "If a person is caught speeding we issue a fixed penalty fine of £60, which we claim and use to cover our operating costs. But if a motorist is caught driving at a high speed it goes to court and we have to pay the processing fees. The Department of Transport takes all money made from these fines."

He added that money was only recoverable at the end of the financial year and was only just enough to cover legal expenses.

"There is a misconception that the money raised from all speeding motorists goes back in to the police budget, but we rarely see a penny it all goes directly to the Treasury and we are left with the bill," he said.

Jim Wilson, chairman of the Norfolk Police Authority, said: "It is a myth that money from safety cameras comes back to the police and the Casualty Reduction Partnership.

"We don't make profits out of it and the cameras are heavily regulated by the Government."

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