Mary Creagh – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Creagh on 2014-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in each police force area have been caught speeding and received points on their driving licence in each of the last five years.

Damian Green

The maximum penalty for speeding is a fine of up to £1,000 and for speeding on a motorway, £2,500. The courts also have the power to disqualify the offender from driving and must in any event endorse the offender’s licence by between three and six penalty points. Alternatively, if the police decide that the nature of the offence was less serious, they may offer the motorist the opportunity to receive a fixed penalty notice instead of prosecution. If a fixed penalty is issued, the driver may instead chose to plead innocence or mitigating factors in court, and if convicted, any sentence will be decided within the maximum penalty limit and in line with sentencing guidelines.

The number of persons receiving endorsements only on their driving licence for speeding offences at all courts in England and Wales by police force area from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the attached table.

Please note that court proceedings statistics for the year 2013 are planned to be published by the Ministry of Justice in May 2014.