HC Deb 10 April 2002 vol 383 cc339-41W
Mr. Hepburn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many convictions for speeding were obtained as a result of evidence from speed cameras in(a)South Tyneside, (b)the north-east and (c)the United Kingdom in 2001; [39759]

(2) how many speed cameras there are in (a)South Tyneside, (b)the north-east and (c)the United Kingdom. [39758]

Mr. Denham

The available information on the number of convictions and fixed penalty notices issued for the offence of "speeding detected by camera device" for 2000 is shown in the table. Statistics for 2001 are not yet available. It is not possible from the data collected to identify South Tyneside and there are no central records to indicate the number of speed cameras in operation in England and Wales. However, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) estimates that there are about 4,500 speeding camera sites in England and Wales. Information relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland (Mrs. Liddell) and Northern Ireland (Dr. John Reid).

Prosecutions and fixed penalty notices paid for the offence of speeding detected by camera device1, in 2000
Number of offences
Prosecutions Fixed penalties paid
South Tyneside 2 2
North East Region3 10,800 38,500
Total England and Wales 109,200 624,300
1Offences under Sections 16, 81, 84, 86, 88, 89 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973.
2Not available
3Region covers Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria police forces—source Office for National Statistics.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been prosecuted as a result of speed camera evidence in each year since 1997 broken down by(a)police force area and (b)local authority area. [45587]

Mr. Keith Bradley

Information on the number of prosecutions for speeding as a result of camera evidence, by police force area, is shown in the table. Data are not available by local authority area.

Prosecutions at magistrate courts for speeding offences detected by camera by police force area 1997 to 2000
Number of offences
1997 1998 1999 2000
Avon and Somerset 2,186 2,997 1,607 1,660
Bedfordshire 1,436 3,518 1,536 1,861
Cambridgeshire 2,661 1,553 1,280 800
Cheshire 361 405 2,280
Cleveland 263 576 586 376
Cumbria 1 32 82 87
Derbyshire 1,097 1,416 1,366 950
Devon and Cornwall 2,880 2,684 2,848 3,353
Dorset 241 446 473 471

Prosecutions at magistrate courts for speeding offences detected by camera by police force area 1997 to 2000
Number of offences
1997 1998 1999 2000
Durham 12 96 3,745
Essex 951 1,808 2,231 3,060
Gloucestershire 793 586 289 315
Greater Manchester 2,659 4,355 13,442 16,405
Hampshire 508 1,035
Hertfordshire 121 108 485 1,330
Humberside 253 338 695 1,513
Kent 82 296 368 84
Lancashire 539 935 1,105 978
Leicestershire 97 1,193 641 597
Lincolnshire 580 1,229 1,703
London, City of 6
Merseyside 3,528 9,477 8,450 5,156
Metropolitan police 8,297 2,983 2,749 5,522
Norfolk 25 60 62 23
Northamptonshire 857 6,548
Northumbria 1,141 1,168 1,737 6,662
North Yorkshire 1 32 13
Nottinghamshire 73 263 508 546
South Yorkshire 174 240 219 273
Staffordshire 366 779 1,160 5,821
Suffolk 158 38 132
Surrey 145 124 196 2,353
Sussex 2,292 2,093 2,087 2,018
Thames Valley 2,761 2,943 860 1,118
Warwickshire 1,069 2,161
West Mercia 186 195 210
West Midlands 7,424 13,430 5,790 2,043
West Yorkshire 2,067 2,342 1,886 1,172
Wiltshire 2,674 3,497 4,220 2,440
Total England 47,227 63,538 63,387 86,820
Dyfed Powys 35 1,359
Gwent 10,035 11,421
North Wales 1,024 8,351
South Wales 819 1,534 1,115 1,206
Total Wales 819 1,534 12,209 22,337
Total England & Wales 48,046 65,072 75,596 109,157

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much net income police forces have received from speed camera fines in each year since 1997 broken down by police force area; [45585]

(2) what the aggregate revenue from speed camera fines has been in each year since 1997, broken down by (a)police force area and (b)local authority area. [45586]

Mr. Denham

Available information on aggregate revenue is given in the table. This shows the total number of fixed penalties and court proceedings for speeding offences detected by camera from 1997 to 2000. This information is not available by local authority area and to provide a breakdown by police force area would be possible only at disproportionate cost.

Fixed penalty and court proceeding data for offences of speeding detected by cameras1,2for England and Wales, 1997 to 2000
Fixed penalties Court proceedings
Number of tickets3 Estimated revenue4£ Number of fines Total amount of fine £ Average fine £
1997 288,600 11,544,000 20,800 1,912,200 92
1998 338,800 13,552,000 25,500 2,928,300 115
1999 423,000 16,920,000 32,300 3,434,400 106
2000 624,300 24,972,200 31,800 3,400,000 107

1Automatic cameras until 1998, all camera types from 1999.
2Offences under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and Motor Vehicles (Speed Limits on Motorways) Regulations 1973.
3Paid i.e no further action.
4Estimate based on £40 fixed penalty charge from 1997 to 2000.

All revenue from speeding offences is normally paid to Her Majesty's Treasury. But since April 2000, seven partnership areas in England and Wales have been piloting a new netting-off scheme. The partnerships comprise police forces, local authorities, highways authorities and magistrates courts. The scheme allows fixed penalty fine revenue from speed and red-light traffic cameras to be re-invested to meet the costs of camera enforcement. Money left over goes, as before, to Her Majesty's Treasury.

Set out is the amount of netted off income each of the seven police forces in the pilot scheme received, for the financial year 2000–01.

Police force Netted-off income received £
Cleveland 385,280
Essex 1,309,032
Lincolnshire 328,390
Northamptonshire 1,159,907
Nottinghamshire 211,419
South Wales 534,905
Thames Valley 1,400,457
Total 5,329,390

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