Stop speed fine cash going to government - PCC

PCC Simon Foster has been campaigning for revenue from fixed penalty fines to be reinvested in local policing instead of going to central government

Police chiefs, councillors and road safety campaigners have signed a joint letter to the government calling for an urgent review of the UK's "broken and unsustainable" speed enforcement system.

Led by West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster and Mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker, the letter requests all revenue from road-safety related fixed penalty fines be retained and reinvested locally.

The cost of installing and enforcing speed camera schemes was paid by police and councils, with many running at a loss, Mr Foster said.

In response to the BBC, the Department for Transport (DfT) said there were no plans to change the system.

The letter, sent this week to the Home Office and the DfT, is signed by 33 senior leaders across policing, local government and road safety partnerships, the PCC said.

It is calling for a West Midlands-led trial that would see funds that currently go the Treasury kept locally to help prevent dangerous driving and reduce the numbers killed and seriously injured on the roads.

Many West Midlands speed camera schemes were running at a loss, the PCC said

About £2m in related fines went to the government from the region each year, while local enforcement schemes faced deficits of approximately £2.2m, Mr Foster said.

"The current system is broken and unsustainable," he added. "Offenders - not law-abiding drivers and taxpayers - should bear the cost of enforcement."

Parker said "too many lives were lost or ruined on our roads" as he backed the review.

A DfT spokesperson said: "All speeding fines go into the Treasury's Consolidated Fund to support public services including healthcare, policing and transport, and we have no plans to change this system."

Improving road safety has been a priority in the West Midlands, with two safety campaigners appointed earlier this year.

A regional road safety action plan has the objective of halving the number of people killed or seriously injured on the region's roads by 2030 and reducing it to zero by 2040.