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12 Recommendations
12.1 Recommendations regarding changes to the list of offences
It is apparent from both the interviews and e-survey that the current list of offences is generally appropriate, with one exception.
It is recommended that
- The offence of "Being drunk in Charge of a Child" is removed from the list of offences.
- The offence of "Malicious Mischief" is retained on the list of offences for the time being.
It does not seem widely used in the Tayside area, but may be more widely used in other Forces. This should, however, be reviewed at a later date as it is widely regarded by officers as generally applying to offences of sufficient seriousness to merit a stronger response than the issuing of an FPN. If the situation in other Forces is different then a more thorough analysis of this particular offence would be merited. - Consideration be given to the addition of an offence relating to minor shoplifting.
It was felt that, with important caveats this offence could be appropriately dealt with using FPNs. In particular a limit should be placed on the value of the items stolen, no previous convictions and where there has been recovery of the items. This was mentioned by Divisional Commanders, a number of officers in the focus groups and in the e-survey. - Consideration be given to the addition of the offence of Possession of personal amounts of controlled drugs.
In many cases officers thought that it was better to deal with first offences of this nature using FPNs.
- Further examination of the addition of minor assault offences
Although some officers considered this would be a positive addition, some senior officers were concerned about the public perception of this. One of the focus groups suggested that it should only apply to non-injury assault.
12.2 Recommendations for the court in terms of fine level and enforcement
- The amounts associated with Fiscal Fines needs to be commensurate with those relating to FPNs.
The use of, for example a £25 fine in response to the non-payment of a £40 FPN ticket might be regarded as inappropriate. This seems to have been dealt with through discussion between the Procurator Fiscal and police, but it should be made clear to other regions that such issues may arise, and some standardisation will be required across regions to avoid discrepancies.
- A clarity and consistency in the relationship between Police Force FPNs for antisocial behaviour and the FPNs imposed by other agencies.
A number of officers pointed out the discrepancy between the fines applicable to dog-fouling and 'human-fouling'.
12.3 Recommendation for future technology.
- An investigation into the role of electronic ticketing machine is required.
This should not relate merely to FPNs, but to ticket issuing in general.
12.4 Recommendation for national roll-out.
- The Fixed Penalty Notice Scheme pilot has proved successful in Tayside and it is recommended that it be extended nationally, using the experience gained by Tayside Police and other stakeholders to facilitate its introduction.
Particular attention should be focussed on
- Offences included
- Fine levels
- The compatibility of police and courts' IT systems, especially the use of the Northgate system
- Training on the importance of establishing the identification of a FPN receiver
- Estimation of the workload on CTO support staff.
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