Fixed Penalty Notice

Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) were introduced in Great Britain in the 1950s to deal with minor parking offences. Originally used by police and traffic wardens, their use has extended to other public officials and authorities, as has the range of offences for which they can be used.

In recent years this has taken the form of using them to give police and public authorities in England, Scotland and Wales a realistic weapon against antisocial behaviour. They are designed to reduce paperwork on police and council officers by allowing low-level anti-social behaviour to be dealt with on the spot. Newer types of notice exist for: disorder, environmental crime, truancy and noise. Receiving a notice is not a criminal conviction, and it is not a criminal offence not to pay the fine within the specified time period, however non-payment of the ticket is dealt with in the Magistrates' Court (in England and Wales) and methods of enforcement include imprisonment.

Penalty Notices for parking and motoring offences

This was the original use for FPNs, currently continuing in Great Britain under powers provided by the Road Traffic Act 1991; in many areas this style of enforcement has been taken over from police by local authorities. Some other motoring offences (other than parking) can also be dealt with by the issue of FPNs by police, Highways Agency or local authority personnel. FPNs issued by local authority parking attendants are backed with powers to obtain payment by civil action and are defined as "Penalty Charge Notices", distinguishing them from other FPNs which are often backed with a power of criminal prosecution if the penalty is not paid; in the latter case the "fixed penalty" is sometimes designated as a "mitigated penalty" to indicate the avoidance of being prosecuted which it provides.

Penalty Notices for Disorder

Issued under Section 1-11 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/10016--b.htm#1] for public disorder offences and costing GB£50 for 'lower tier' offences or £80 for 'higher tier' offences, these can only be issued to people aged 16 or over. There are 23 offences for which a notice can be issued, such as being drunk and disorderly in a public place, selling alcohol to a minor (under 18), threatening behaviour or language and "behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others". Penalty notices can also be issued for minor shop thefts and minor criminal damage. Recipients have 21 days to pay the notice or request a court hearing. If a Penalty Notice is not paid after 21 days then the outstanding amount is increased by 50% and if it is still unpaid the fine is lodged at the local magistrates court just as if the matter was an unpaid court fine. This is where PNDs and FPNs vary if they are not paid: the former results in an unpaid fine being lodged and the latter results in the recipient being summonsed to Court to answer for the original offence.

Juvenile PND trials

In some areas there is a pilot scheme that allows Penalty Notices to be issued to 10 to 15 year olds - the parent or guardian is liable for the penalty and the tariff is reduced, £40 for the higher tier offences and £30 for the lower tier offences.

The police forces currently trialling Juvenile PND's are -

* British Transport Police (Birmingham Division)
* Essex
* Lancashire
* Merseyside
* Metropolitan Police (Kingston Division)
* Nottinghamshire
* West Midlands.

Penalty Notice for Environmental Crime

Fixed penalty notices are available as a means for dealing with various environmental crimes. The first was introduced in 1990 for leaving litter, and since then numerous others have followed, particularly as a result of the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003, and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.

The majority of these are issued by local authority officers, but police and Environment Agency officers have been authorised to issue some. The penalty ranges from £20 for unnecessary idling of a stationary vehicle engine to £500 for failing to comply with a noise warning notice in licenced premises.

By far the majority of fixed penalty notices issued for environmental crimes are for leaving litter, failing to remove dog faeces, and fly posting. The Government have determined that fly tipping is too serious to warrant a fixed penalty, and that cases should be referred to the Magistrates Court.

Minor criminal damage such as graffiti may also be dealt with by issuing a fixed penalty notice. [cite web | url=http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/vandalism01.htm Home Office Guidelines |title = Tackling Vandalism | accessdate= 2008-03-10 |format = HTML]

Penalty Notice for Truancy

Section 23 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/30038--d.htm#23] allows local authorities, head teachers (or their deputies) and the police to issue a £50 or £100 fixed penalty notice to a parent or parents who fail to ensure that their child regularly attends school.

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 came into force on 4 September 2007. Under this, parents of children excluded from school are required to keep them under supervision for the first five days of their exclusion. If the child is found in a public place without their parent during this time, the parent can be issued a £50 Penalty Notice, which rises to £100 if not paid in 28 days.

Penalty Notice for Night Noise

Section 2 of the Noise Act 1996 [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/96037--a.htm#2] allows local authorities to investigate complaints from residents about excessive noise coming from a residential dwelling during the night, defined as between the hours of 11pm and 7am.

See also

* Traffic ticket and parking ticket for United States equivalents

References

* [http://www.respect.gov.uk/ Respect Task Force website]
* [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/anti-social-behaviour/penalties/penalty-notices/ Home Office]
* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/20010016.htm Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001]
* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/20030038.htm Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003]
* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/1996037.htm Noise Act 1996]
* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/20060040.htm Education and Inspections Act 2006]