Coronavirus: Fixed Penalties

(asked on 19th April 2022) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a retrospective appeals process for people who were issued fixed penalty notice fines during periods of covid-19 lockdown.


Answered by
Kit Malthouse Portrait
Kit Malthouse
This question was answered on 26th April 2022

The Government believes a robust set of review processes were put in place for Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued and individuals were given the opportunity to contest FPNs at various stages of the process. The police had no power to enforce FPN payment, this power resides with the courts.

Each FPN was subject to at least two reviews prior to being formally administered to ensure that it complied with the regulations and meet the level of evidence required. Once issued, individuals can make representations to the issuing force. It was a matter for the respective force to consider how to deal with any representations received.

If an FPN was not paid within the 28-day statutory payment period, the offence for which the FPN was issued could be prosecuted in court if the prosecuting authority believed they had sufficient evidence for a prosecution.

Challenge to a FPN can also be taken by way of judicial review in High Court, where a judge would be asked to decide whether or not the police acted lawfully in issuing the fine. If the judge decided that the police did not act lawfully, then the fine can be cancelled.

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