Motorists could face penalty price hikes

Thursday 09 November 2023

Fixed penalty notices - like parking tickets - will increase by £25 if new proposals from Home Affairs are approved.

Offences like parking overtime or not setting your clock currently cost £40.

More serious ones, like failing to display L-Plates, attract a £70 fine and those like driving with a mobile £100.

A £10 discount applies in all cases if the fine is paid within seven days.

The proposed increases could see hundreds of thousands of pounds in additional revenue created through the existing fixed penalty system. 

In all 15,136 fixed penalty notices were issued in 2022, the latest published figures, meaning that if the Home Affairs proposal is approved by the States it could bring in up to an extra £378,400, although the trend is for just over half to pay within a week.

The current levels of fines were introduced in 2012.

“Fixed penalty notices allow for lower level offences to remain outside of the criminal justice system which carries substantial costs, setting the level of fines at an appropriate point aims to deter individuals from specific undesirable behaviours,” Home Affairs’ States report says.

“Should the fines not carry an appropriate level of deterrence, it may be argued that fixed penalty notice offences could have the potential to become more frequent, as the sanction associated with them is no longer enough to discourage the behaviours effectively. 

“In instances whereby individuals do commit these offences, the penalty received should also be sufficient enough to act as a preventative tool in order to deter repeated behaviour.

“Since the previous review carried out just over a decade ago, inflation has risen dramatically, and therefore it is arguable that a review is necessary for fines to remain effective whilst also being fair and proportionate. In order for the fines to meet these criteria it is suggested that the increase should be broadly in line with inflation.”

Band A offences will move from £40 to £65; Band B from £70 to £95 and Band C from £100 to £125.

The £10 discount would remain the same.

The report says that “an increase in revenue is not the driver for change”.

The proposals have been lodged for a States debate, likely to be in early 2024.