The public has given its overwhelming backing to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s bid to have money raised from speeding fines spent on road safety schemes here in the West Midlands.
A grand total of 93% of people, who took part in a four-week consultation, agreed that money raised from fixed penalty fines should stay here in the region rather than be sent to Westminster.
Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, says that preventing, tackling and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour and reducing the number of people tragically and avoidably killed and seriously injured on our roads is one of his top priorities and has called for money raised from fixed penalty fines, issued in the West Midlands, to be used to fund road safety schemes here.
The funds should be ring-fenced for use by both West Midlands Police and the seven local authorities, in the delivery of the West Midlands Regional Road Safety Strategy 2023-2030.
They are currently sent to a central pot controlled by The Treasury.
More than 1,300 people took part in the consultation, with 94 per cent saying they had personally witnessed cars driving at inappropriate or excessive speeds, while the same number said more needs to be done to tackle speeding on our roads.
Asking how safe people feel on our roads, 77 per cent said they felt either unsafe or very unsafe.
PCC Simon Foster said: “As Police and Crime Commissioner and as Chair of the West Midlands Road Safety Strategic Group, preventing, tackling and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour and reducing the number of people, tragically and avoidably killed and seriously injured on our roads are top priorities.
“That is because, the consequences of road traffic collisions are catastrophic and devastating.
“This consultation has given a clear endorsement for my view, that money raised by speeding fines here in the West Midlands, should be retained here and invested in making our roads safer.”
An average of 16,654 fixed penalty tickets are processed by the West Midlands Police ticketing office per year, generating £1,654,000 in income for HM Treasury every year.
Currently, all money recovered from these fines are retained by the Treasury, via the fixed penalty office. This money is not fed back into roads policing or to support local authorities’ road safety activities in any way.
The PCC added: “This disposal method is not cost neutral to the police or to the local authorities, who own the cameras which enable excessive speed activations and the tickets to be generated.
“Enforcement is at a cost to the local authorities and to the police. This means that money, which could be used to prevent, tackle and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads and improve road safety more generally, is being used to generate revenue for Central Government.
“All money, generated through the enforcement of unlawful speeding on West Midlands roads, should be spent in the West Midlands. This can be used to fund further enforcement and improve safety on the road network for all road users, through interventions such as driver targeted behaviour change programmes, education and infrastructure enhancements and to make use of the road network safe for vulnerable road users, for example, pedestrians and cyclists.”
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