On-the-spot fines

Public spaces are increasingly policed by unaccountable officials bearing open-ended powers. On-the-spot fines mean that police and other officials can punish people for a series of offences ‘on-the-spot’, without legal checks and balances. Criminal offences that would have been tried in court are now often dealt with like a parking ticket.

The result has been arbitrary punishments for perfectly innocent activities. A woman was fined for feeding the ducks, as was a man who dropped a £10 note. One Women’s Institute group received threats of fines for putting up a poster and handing out leaflets, while others have been fined for putting up lost cat posters.

See our report: Pavement Injustice: the Rise of On-the-spot fines

On-the-spot fines • PSPOs

Council forced to scrap ‘cowboy’ cycling fines

Colchester Council has been forced to scrap fines issued to cyclists under its Public Spaces Protection Order, after people were wrongfully fined for actions including cycling on shared-use paths, cycling in cycling areas, and cycling slowly on a pavement to avoid a dangerous roundabout. Colchester’s PSPO prohibits – Using a skateboard, bicycle, scooter, skates, or any other self-propelled wheeled vehicle, including electric scooters in such a manner as to cause or is likely to cause intimidation, harassment, alarm, distress, nuisance, or annoyance to any person. As we noted in our PSPOs report last year, there is a growing trend for councils to…

On-the-spot fines

Smokers fined for putting cigarette down for a moment

The campaign group North Wales Against Kingdom Security is helping two smokers who were fined for putting lit cigarettes on the ground for a moment. In one case, a bus driver got off the coach and lit a cigarette outside the door. An elderly gentleman wanted to come down the stairs, so the bus driver put his cigarette on the floor, and helped the man off. He then picked the cigarette and finished it but an operative leapt in and issued him a fixed penalty notice in the meantime. In another case, a lady (who is is disabled and uses a mobility…

On-the-spot fines

£400 fines for putting rubbish in the bin

Now Rother Council has joined Camden Council in fining members of the public for putting their rubbish in the bin. A woman in Battle, East Sussex, picked up waste that had been strewn over a council carpark after seagulls ripped open bin bags. Because she put the rubbish in the carpark bins, she was sent a £400 pound fine for ‘fly tipping’. Like Camden, Rother Council subcontracts enforcement to a private company, who is paid per fine (in this case, the company is National Enforcement Solutions). At worst, the lady made a well-intentioned mistake of putting rubbish in the nearby bins. By…

On-the-spot fines • PSPOs • Reports

The Corruption of Punishment 2022 – Report

Defra 2019 guidance prohibited the issuing of penalties for financial motives. Yet a new Manifesto Club report finds that council enforcement is ‘more marketised than ever’, with a record number of private companies competing for the right to issue FPNs for environmental and ASB offences. The Manifesto Club report – The Corruption of Punishment 2022 – found a ‘cut throat’ market, with 10 private companies pitching for council enforcement contracts (up from 5 companies in 2018). 90% of councils paid the company per FPN issued, or used another payment system that gave incentives for the company to issue as many fines as…

On-the-spot fines • Take action!

Campaign to End Fining for Profit

What is fining for profit? Private security companies are employed by local authorities to issue penalties for criminal offences such as littering or anti-social behaviour. These companies are generally paid per fine issued, which creates an incentive to issue as many fines as possible. According to a recent Manifesto Club report, 66 councils employ a private company to issue fines for criminal offences. 90% of these councils pay the company per penalty issued, or use another system that means that the more fines they issue, the more money they make. Fining for profit began over a decade ago, with a single company…

On-the-spot fines

Lib Dem Councillors against ‘fining for profit’

We are delighted that the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors has decided to take a stand against ‘fining for profit’. Drawing on Manifesto Club work on the area, the ALDC has produced a Campaign pack and a Draft Council motion on the issue. These are only available to its members, but the council motion can be viewed here. If you are in an area where private enforcement companies operate on commission, you could contact Lib Dem councillors and ask if they will challenge these practices, pointing them towards these excellent ALDC resources. (Of course, the council motion might be of interest to…

On-the-spot fines

Pensioner fined £400 for sweeping her street

We have been contacted by a Camden pensioner who was slapped with a fine for ‘fly tipping’, after she swept part of her street and put the litter in a bin over the road. Her street was filthy and had not been cleaned for a week. She swept up the street litter – largely cigarette butts and sweet wrappers – from outside her house and the house of her elderly neighbour, and put the half carrier bag of rubbish in the bins over the road. As a reward for her efforts, Camden Council sent her a bill for £400 pounds, and a…

On-the-spot fines

North Wales campaigners save dog walker from malicious fine

The group North Wales Axed Kingdom Security has helped a dog walker wrongly fined for having her dog off lead on a beach. The fine was issued recently, but it concerns an incident that occurred more than two years ago. The lady described what happened: It was December 2019 and I was on the grass by the theatre in Rhyl. My dog’s ball rolled from the grass across the path and onto the beach. I was on my way to get it then go back on to the grass. My dog was off lead but not out of control, she just wanted…