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New transparency rules for speed cameras

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 26 June 2011

Full information about speed cameras will be published by local authorities and the police for the first time, Road Safety Minister Mike Penning announced today.

Figures showing the numbers of accidents and casualties at camera sites - both before and after cameras were installed - will be published by local authorities.

And police forces will publish the number of speeding prosecutions arising from each camera in their area, as well as force-wide information about whether offenders are fined, complete a speed awareness course or are taken to court.

Mike Penning said:

"We want to improve accountability and make sure that the public are able to make informed judgements about the decisions made on their behalf. So if taxpayers' money is being spent on speed cameras then it is right that information about their effectiveness is available to the public.

"That is why we want full details of accidents and casualties at camera sites, along with the number of offences arising from each camera, to be easily accessible. This will help to show what impact cameras are having on road safety and also how the police are dealing with offenders."

English highway authorities are required to either publish or ensure publication of site by site casualty, collision and speed information for permanent fixed camera sites as soon as practical, and should provide the website address to the Department by 20th July.

The information should usually include annual collision and casualty data back to 1990 for the numbers of killed and seriously injured people and for all personal injuries. Local authorities which support camera enforcement financially should also ensure that a deployment strategy is published.

The Department will set up a central hub providing links to local websites where the information is published.

The Highways Agency will publish site by site casualty, collision and speed information for permanent fixed camera sites on its network or provide links to where such sites are being included in what local authorities are publishing.

Police forces are to publish the number of prosecutions arising from each permanent or long term temporary fixed camera site in their area each year, along with the total number of offences recorded by all cameras and the total numbers of offenders given a fixed penalty notice, or taken to court and the numbers of people opting to complete speed awareness courses.

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Notes to editors

1. The Department for Transport set up a working group to advise on the publication of speed camera information. The group's report is published here:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/speed-camera-information
along with a covering note from the Department.

2. The Department has accepted the advice of the report of a working group about the publication of information related to speed cameras except in a few areas related to offence data

3. The Department has today written to English highway authorities setting out the requirements identified by the working group for publication of accident, casualty and speed data. This is further to work co-ordinated by Communities and Local Government on local government accountability to produce a rationalised list of central government data requirements from local government in 2011-12. This data is amongst those councils are required to publish locally to facilitate local accountability, but which they are not required to submit to central government.

4. In London the responsible organisation is Transport for London.

5. In relation to offence data the Department considers there is a strong justification in terms of public transparency and accountability to publish this information site by site for fixed camera sites. So, following further dialogue with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), site by site offence data is to be published.

6. Annual numbers of prosecutions are to be published by police forces (or other organisations on their behalf) site by site for permanent, and long term (more than six months) temporary, fixed speed camera sites. Total numbers of prosecutions/ planned prosecutions arising from camera enforcement (whether fixed or mobile) in a year and the disposal method (for example via training, fixed penalty notices or court summons) are to be published by police force area and, where practicable and cost effective, at the local highway authority scale.

7. The Department will review the position related to implementation of the publication of speed camera information after six months with ACPO and the working group.

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Contacts:

DfT Press Office - Roads
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