Road Traffic Offences: Fines

(asked on 5th February 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing speeding fines linked to the income of the offender.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 14th February 2020

Courts are required by statute to take into account the financial circumstances of the offender, insofar as these can be assessed, when setting a fine for any offence including speeding offences. Guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council require the court to assess the seriousness of a speeding offence based upon the speed of the vehicle in relation to the speed limit of the road. Once the seriousness is established a fine amount is set which relates to the income of the offender.

The relevant sentencing guideline is set out below:

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/speeding-revised-2017/

Where an individual fails to provide information about their financial circumstances, the court may assess the fine amount as it sees fit and, the sentencing guideline provides for the court to fall back on an average earnings figure.

Full details on fines can be found here:

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/explanatory-material/magistrates-court/item/fines-and-financial-orders/approach-to-the-assessment-of-fines-2/1-approach-to-the-assessment-of-fines-introduction/

In simple cases the police have the power to offer a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), which consists of a fixed non-means-tested fine, and penalty points. The Department for Transport is responsible for fixing the penalty levels for speeding related FPNs. FPNs do not take means into account as they are designed to operate as a simple on-the-spot process. Individuals may refuse a FPN, in which case the matter may be taken before a court.

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