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Police to net an extra £12 million from speed awareness courses

More than a million motorists each year attend speed awareness courses
More than a million motorists each year attend speed awareness courses

Police forces have been accused of deliberately targeting motorists to raise revenue, after it emerged they are to receive an extra £12 million a year from speed awareness courses.

More than a million drivers each year now opt to attend one of the schemes, meaning they do not have to pay a speeding fine and can avoid having points added to their licence.

Under the current system, police forces are not supposed to generate any income from the courses, but receive a flat fee to cover their costs.

Last month that figure increased from £35 to £45 meaning forces will generate at least £12 million extra each year.

With thousands more speed cameras being rolled out across the country, that figure is set to soar as more motorists are caught going too fast on the roads.

Critics of the system last night poured scorn on the idea that police forces were not making money out of the courses and said they were being "incentivised to pursue drivers.

The police have been accused of using course to generate revenue - Credit: IAN JONES
The police have been accused of using course to generate revenue Credit: IAN JONES

Hugh Bladon of the Alliance of British Drivers claimed it was clear by the huge numbers taking part, that police forces were generating significant amounts of revenue from the schemes.

He said: "The incentive is clearly there for the police to get people onto these courses because they benefit financially. It does not accord with what our definition of justice is in the UK.

"It almost works like a bribe, saying to motorists we would give you the points but sign up to this course and you can avoid them."

Claire Armstrong of the group Safe Speed, also said it was nonsense to suggest speed awareness courses were about anything but making money.

She said: "These course are using the police as a sales mechanism for the speed camera industry. It is so far from being about road safety that they should be embarrassed.

"It's high time we got police back on the roads rather than using automated cameras to enforce average speed limits which do nothing for road safety.

"Motorists are being bribed into doing these courses that are not improving road safety. It is a huge scam."

Around 1.2 million motorists attend speed awareness courses each year - Credit: PA
Around 1.2 million motorists attend speed awareness courses each year Credit: PA

The speed awareness courses are run under the umbrella of the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) which ensures consistency across the 43 forces.

Jerry Moore, who helped set up NDORS, said while police forces were only supposed to recover their costs, the fee of £45 was based on an average so it was possible some more efficient forces were generating extra revenue.

Two private companies run the majority of courses, but five police forces; Lancashire; Merseyside; Humberside; Cheshire and Northamptonshire run their own.

Any profits they make, must be put back into road safety, but with forces facing unprecedented financial pressure, any extra revenue will be welcomed by Chief Constables.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs' Council said: "The NPCC has helped to implement new arrangements for the funding of driver retraining courses which are transparent and accountable. Police forces do not profit from these courses and the financial model provides for cost recovery only."

There has also been criticism of the fact that the price of the course differs according to where in the country you attend.

Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: "Surely there is no other part of the criminal justice system where fines and penalties vary by as much as a third across the country?

"Intuitively, people would expect to pay a fixed price for doing wrong, not an arrangement that offers rewards for shopping around or penalises partly because of where people live."