HC Deb 19 December 1990 vol 183 cc201-2W
Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing the various recommendations of the road traffic law review on the enforcement of road traffic laws by the police and through the courts other than those covered in the current Road Traffic Bill.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Substantial progress has been made in implementing many of the recommendations of the road traffic law review which concern enforcement by the police and through the courts and which do not require legislation.

The review recommended that chief constables should consider equipping some of their traffic patrol vehicles with video recording equipment. We are aware of 21 forces in England and Wales which use video cars in the enforcement of road traffic law.

The review recommended that more comprehensive information about driver licensing and driver records should be available to officers on patrol. A feasibility study on improved links between the police national computer and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency was completed in March 1990. It is intended to take this forward as part of the development of the police national computer 2 in order to make full information about driver records available to officers on patrol.

The review made a number of recommendations about the use of alternatives to prosecution. In 1989, over three quarters of all motoring offences against which official action was taken were dealt with by written warning, fixed penalty, or under the vehicle defect rectification scheme. Substantial numbers will also have been dealt with by verbal warnings at the roadside, although these are not recorded.

The operation of fixed penalty procedures was comprehensively reviewed in 1988. A copy of the report of this review was placed in the Library on 27 June 1989. The system continues to function well, and its operation is monitored by a Home Office-chaired working group, on which the police and the courts are represented.

The review's recommendations on the vehicle defect rectification scheme and written warnings were pursued through consultation with the traffic committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers. After consulting all forces, the Association of Chief Police Officers was satisfied that the vehicle defect rectification scheme is operating efficiently and consistently. It will be keeping its operation under review.

The Association of Chief Police Officers endorsed the conclusion of the review that warnings should be used whenever possible. However, they did not consider it desirable to pursue the recommendations about standardising the format of warnings, primarily because of the widely varying circumstances in which warnings may be given.

The review made several recommendations about the provision of information about sentencing to the courts. The Home Office is working closely with the Justices' Clerks Society and the Magistrates Association on how sentencing information might best be presented to the courts. We hope that this will assist the courts to make a general comparison of their sentencing practices.