Evaluation of the 12-Month Fixed Penalty Notice Pilot in the Tayside Police Force Area

1.1 Background to the Evaluation

The Scottish Executive's Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 17 June 2004. Part 11 of the Act provides new power to the police to issue Fixed Penalty Notices ( FPN) for ten crimes and offences of an antisocial nature committed by offenders aged 16 and over.
On the strength of its IT system, Tayside was chosen to pilot the FPN scheme from April 1 ^st 2005 for one year.
Tayside Police produced an interim evaluation six months into the pilot.
This evaluation builds on that six-month evaluation.

1.2 Evaluation Methods

Data were collected from
One-to-one interviews with the main stakeholders
Focus groups of Tayside Police officers
An e-survey of Tayside Police officers
A review of media reports
Statistical data from Tayside Police's COGNOS computer system and Dundee and Angus District Courts.

1.3 Main Findings

FPNs

3327 FPNs were issued in the year of the pilot
FPNs were predominantly for "Breach of the peace" (49%), "Urinating or defecating in circumstances causing annoyance to others" (28%) and "Consuming alcohol in a public place" (12%).
85% of FPNs were issued to males and 77% to those between 16 and 30.
80% of FPNs were issued on the street and 96% within three days
63% of fines were paid in the statutory period (significantly higher than the 51% in England and Wales).
Six months after the pilot has finished, the percentage paid for FPNs sent to the Dundee District Court was 78% (significantly higher than in England and Wales).
There is some evidence of net-widening (the issuing of a FPN where previously a warning would have been given) but little evidence of repeat offending

Implementation

A project board was formed including a project executive, manager and operational users together with representatives from Tayside Police's IT development, Finance and Central Ticket Office. The project board liaised with external stakeholders including representatives from ACPOS, PITO, the area Procurator Fiscal and Crown Office.
The Project Board worked well in areas such as IT procurement, training and communication.
The pilot was undertaken within time and cost budgets
Problems of incompatible IT systems caused delays in the processing of FPNs at one Court. This may have led to the high percentage of non-payment of registered fines

Savings

Nearly three quarters of Police officers agreed that FPNs save them time.
The time taken to complete an FPN is estimated as 10 -15 minutes c.f. 45 minutes to complete a Standard Prosecution Report ( SPR). The time saved for Tayside Police is estimated to be 2500 man-hours if all FPNs had been issued with a SPR. However, this may be an overestimate as some FPNs may have been issued when previously a warning would have been given. This may reduce the savings to approximately 1300 man-hours.
The number of Fiscal Fines for offences eligible for FPN was reduced by more than 50% in the pilot year compared with the previous financial year.
The Procurator Fiscal Service confirmed that the number of minor offences had reduced since the introduction of FPNs. Cases eligible for FPNs that did come to court were not more complex than seen previously.
Although time may have been saved in the District Courts, the Central Ticket Office incurred more work, as it was not previously responsible for the administration of FPNs for anti-social behaviour offences.

1.4 Recommendations in the event of national roll out.

Offences eligible for FPN

The Scottish Executive considers the range of offences eligible for a FPN.
Of the ten current FPN offences, it is recommended that "Being drunk in a public place in charge of a child" is removed from the list of offences and that of "Malicious mischief" is retained on the list of offences for the time being.
It is recommended that the offences of minor shoplifting, possession of personal amounts of controlled drugs and minor assault offences be considered for addition to the list of offences.

Fine Level

There should be a single fine level for FPN offences with £40 widely regarded as appropriate
Fine levels should be rationalised if other offences are added

Future Technology

An investigation should be undertaken into whether electronic ticketing should replace the various paper based fixed penalty systems.
Police and local courts IT systems should be compatible to transfer FPN electronically

Implementation

Other Scottish police forces should identify areas of best practice shown by Tayside ( e.g. Business Benefits Workshop, IT system and staff training) and implement locally
A review of the impact of introducing FPNs across Scotland should be undertaken a year after its introduction.

The Scottish Government