O.K. This may seem incredible, and complex, but I’m afraid it’s true.
On Monday, 4th August, 2008 a new set of mandatory sentencing guidelines come in to force for magistrates in England and Wales.
Ignoring (!) the increase in penalty points, fines will be based on “ability to pay” assuming a net (post tax, etc.) income of £375-£625 p.w. with £500 being the usual starting point.
There are % guideline for the various charges with 75% to 125% of “ability to pay” being fairly typical.
There are also “guidelines” for short term driving bans from, one to four weeks.
Good here, ennit?
Oh. And there is a new structure for “costs”. Complex, but looks like a starting point of £15 for pleading guilty.
If you get hit with a fixed penalty ticket after Monday, just pay it. It’s almost certainly going to be cheaper than going to court.
Personally I think the basis of the idea is good. A Premiership footballer get caught doing a 100mph+ on the motorway gets off with a £600 and no ban because the “charity” work that he would do would suffer. Like hell it would, these people earn upto hundreds of thousands a week. Employ a chauffeur.
A person on minimum wage gets caught and loses their license and struggles to get to work on public transport and gets fined £100.
