Fixed Penalty Notices

Objective: Examine BTP’s Powers to issue Fixed Penalty Notices.

At the second meeting, BTP delivered a presentation to the Group where they outlined what out of court disposals are available to them and set out their aspirations on where these can be strengthened. BTP advised that they have the power to issue a Verbal Discretionary Warning (VDW) for low-level antisocial behaviour offences. This is a unique power to BTP which poses challenges around its effectiveness, as it is only recorded within their own internal recording systems and is not shared more widely as part of an offender’s criminal history meaning it is unavailable to Police Scotland and wider justice partners.

BTP would like to see VDWs incorporated into the Recorded Police Warning (RPW) and Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) regimes, which are both recorded as part of an offender’s criminal history which strengthens the criminal justice impact.

BTP confirmed that they would like to see more offences included under the FPN and RPW regimes, as this would allow more antisocial behaviour incidents to be dealt with out of court and more efficiently.

It was also noted that the fine level for a FPN (currently £40) had not increased since 2004. This raised concerns around whether or not this was an effective deterrent to offenders, particularly as this amount is not in line with fines for other offences.

The policy and legislative landscape in relation to a FPN and other enforcement measures was provided by the Scottish Government’s Safer Communities representative. They advised that there are two actions through secondary legislation which could change the law regarding FPNs, which included changing the level of the penalty and changing the types of criminal offences and behaviour that are subject to a FPN. External members of the Group were keen to explore these options in more detail.

Recommendation 2: Raise the fine level of a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Recommendation 3: Including the following under British Transport Police’s Recorded Police Warning and Fixed Penalty Notice regimes:

  • All offences under the Railway Byelaws contained within the Transport Act 2000
  • All offences under the SPT Glasgow Subway Byelaws within S.46 and Sch. 9 of the Railways Act 2005
  • Railway Trespass – S.55 British Transport Commission Act 1949
  • Low Level Travel Fraud offences - S.5 Regulation of Railways Act 1889
  • Threatening & Abusive Behaviour - S.38 Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scot) Act 2010