Hard pressed motorists could be in line for more new year grief if new Government plans go ahead. Fines for motoring offences such as Parking tickets, speeding and having dirty windscreens are to rise by £15, under government plans to help victims of domestic violence or sexual assaults.
Currently the ‘Victims’ Surcharge’ is only handed out with more serious fines from the courts, but it will be added to fixed penalty tickets for offences such as speeding and other parking misdemeanours, according to a Parliamentary answer.
Ministers said that they plan to extend the victim surcharge to fixed-penalty notices and ‘road traffic offences’, an idea first considered by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary in April last year. This would mean the minimum £60 fine for speeding would rise to £75.
In November last year, Justice Minister Claire Ward, said: “It is government policy that, where possible, offenders should contribute to victims’ services as part of their reparation.”
Speaking in the Commons, she told MPs a surcharge would be added as soon as it was “feasible to do so”.
But Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, suggested the government would have a hard job convincing motorists this was anything other than a “stealth tax”.
“Motorists need to obey the rules of the road but they also have to believe what they get penalised for committing relatively minor offences is fair, and not just some arbitrary figure.”
He argued that if money was needed to be set aside for victims, it should come out of existing charges
Steve Fowler, of What Car? magazine, called for assurances that such a “massive windfall” would go to the right places.
“The police and the government need to explain exactly where this money is going. Every penny needs to go to the victim support scheme so it’s not seen as another tax.”
Government officials deny the move amounts to a stealth tax.
They say such offences are not “victimless crimes” as thousands are killed or injured on Britain’s roads every year and others have their lives ruined by anti-social behaviour.
John Thornhill, chairman of the Magistrates’ Association, criticised the levy system, saying the money was going to victim support agencies, rather than the victims themselves.
His association is calling for a victim fund to be established so that when magistrates order for compensation to be paid to a victim, it can be paid in full immediately.
The levy has raised nearly £4m in 2007/8 and £8m in 2008/9 for several victim services including Victim Support, the Victims Fund and the Crown Prosecution Service’s witness care.
Prior to its launch, the Home Office – which was responsible for the initiative at the time – said the surcharge was part of a series of moves to “rebalance” the criminal justice system in favour of victims.
You can avoid having to pay high London parking fees and fines by using the Tube and our text service to find free parking near tube stations outside the congestion zone.
Simply text the word Parking plus the name of a tube station OUTSIDE THE CONGESTION ZONE to 80039 and you’ll receive a text back giving you three locations near the tube, or the one closest to it on the same line.