‘Stop £10,000 Covid fines’
NATIONAL POLICE CHIEFS’ ADVICE IS ‘SURPRISING’ SAYS COUNTY COMMISSIONER
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE’S crime commissioner is “surprised” by guidance from police chiefs to scrap £10,000 Covid-19 fines.
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has called on forces across the country to suspend the maximum fine during the pandemic.
Instead, they are urging police to issue court orders and summons, where fines can be “means-tested” in magistrates’ courts, The Sun reports.
Nottinghamshire Police have been imposing the maximum penalty to organisers of gatherings of more than 30 people.
But the NPCC’S call follows disputes over “inequalities” in the strict Covid rules.
The organisation thinks offenders should instead be given a summons demanding they appear before mag
istrates so they could end up paying less or being given more time to settle.
An NPCC spokesman said: “We gave this advice because of a potential disparity between those who opt to pay the fixed penalty notice and those who see their case reach the court where the FPN would be means-tested against personal income.
“We are working with government to urgently address this matter and, once rectified, we intend to advise that forces resume issuing £10,000 FPNS wherever appropriate.”
But Notts police commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “Nottinghamshire Police were the first force the country to issue a £10,000 fine for a student party.
“The force received a commendation from the Home Secretary herself for this action and given that I’m surprised at the guidance from the NPCC.”
But Press Association research has shown that just 55.91 percent of fixed penalty notices issued in the county between March and September were paid within 28 days.
In all, 186 fixed penalty notices were issued by Nottinghamshire Police in that period.
But only 104 were paid in the allotted 28-day window and 12 were ultimately rescinded.
Since Nottinghamshire Police were able to hand out the maximum £10,000 fine for lockdown rule breaches, numerous people have been issued with the fee.
This includes the organisers of several student house parties in the city’s suburbs, as well as a music venue in Sutton-in-ashfield which hosted more than 100 people on November 4.
Mr Tipping has previously spoken out about how nobody in Nottingham has actually paid the fine in full.
He said: “Certainly no-one in Nottingham has paid the £10,000 fine, and no-one nationally.
“They will get taken to court and the courts decide whether to enforce the fine. There is a view around these £10,000 fines on will they be collected.
“Around 50 percent of people with £200 fixed penalty notices have also not paid.
“It shows this money will be difficult to collect.”