Date:
28.11.86.
Time:
8.30
12.30
Reporter:
PMO
1
[10.18]
CHAIRMAN:
We shall continue with this morning's business.
2
The next item on the agenda is paragraphs 101 to 106, 5 and 7, of
3 the Director of Audit's report. May I call on the Commissioner of
4
Police to appear before the Committee. Good morning, Commissioner.
203
I think it might help to clarify
the situation if I make a statement originally on the paragraphs on which I am required to address. Looking first perhaps at paragraph 7, the only comment I would like to make on that is that the explanatory memorandum to the 1984 Bill makes reference to the increasing cost
5
6
C of P:
Good morning.
7
8
CHAIRMAN:
As I understand it, you wish to make a statement ?
9
Go ahead.
10
11
C of P;
Thank you.
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
to be paid to or ordered by the court, but doesn't specifically refer to include earlier payment of fixed penalty fines although that has, in fact, been one of the effects. In 1983 the pay-up rate for parking tickets was 73 per cent; in 1984, the year in which the double
penalty was introduced, the pay-up rate increased to 80 per cent and
for the year 1985 the rate was 88 per cent. The amendment has therefore definitely had the effect of encouraging earlier payment.
If I could turn now to the other more meaty issue perhaps of paragraphs 101 to 106. In dealing with this I would like perhaps to start by commenting on paragraph 103 of the report, in particular
line 12 in which attention is drawn to the estimates made in 1983
that 4.6 million parking tickets would be issued in 1987/88 and that
28 this was unrealistic. I feel that it is unfortunate that the
Director of Audit has chosen to single out this one figure which is really applied to the wrong time period. For ease of reference
perhaps I could draw your attention to a bar chart which, if I may
distribute, [Document distributed to Committee] this clearly shows 33 the rate of increase in the issue of fixed penalty parking tickets
up to and including the year 1982. It can be seen from this that
the rate of growth up to that time justified the estimate that was 36 made in that time for 1987/88, but as you are aware such estimates
27
29
30
31
32
34
35