'Where money really goes' - The Sun
Discussion
www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,5-2004041943,,00.html
Where money really goes
By HENRY ADAMS
THE Government’s claim that all the cash from speed camera fines is spent on road safety is today exposed by The Sun as a LIE.
Last year some 1.2million motorists were caught in traps and had to fork out £70million in £60 fines.
But we can reveal that processing the fines has created a whole industry, with layers of bureaucrats and expenses paid for from the cash pot.
The Sun, campaigning to remove speed cameras from safe stretches of road, has obtained a copy of the confidential accounts of the Essex Safety Camera Partnership for 2002/3 — and it reveals a shocking Gatso gravy train.
The agency, backed by Essex police and local councils, is one of 42 Quangos operating speed cameras across Britain.
Last year its 51 cameras nailed 94,537 drivers on the county’s 5,000 miles of roads, bringing in £5,672,220.
But the report reveals it blew £5.15MILLION on a vast and unnecessary empire of staff and buildings.
Last night a camera agency insider said: “None of these jobs or buildings existed until a few years ago. Now there’s so much cash floating about from fines that we can’t even spend it all.”
Ironically, road deaths — which the Government says Gatso cameras prevent — rose in the county last year.
Essex police claimed an astonishing £2,444,420 of the £5.15million.
KER-CHING! £1.43million — the proceeds of 23,834 fines — went on salaries for police officers and bureaucrats who control the Gatsos.
Some £510,000 of it went on overtime alone.
KER-CHING! £460,000 (7,600 fines) paid for a lavish makeover at the camera enforcement HQ. Forty full-time bureaucrats are employed to pursue motorists and work from two specially-converted, unmarked office buildings in Billericay, Essex.
KER-CHING! £82,876 (1,380 fines) went on “travelling and subsistence expenses”.
KER-CHING! £9,364 (160 fines) was used to buy plush office furniture. “Internal decorations” cost £4,667 while £300 was eaten up by “hospitality and entertaining”.
KER-CHING! Councils in Essex claimed £2,487,380 (41,456 fines) including £237,126 on “outside consultants". The county council spent £16,730 on “advertising and publicity” — dismissed as propaganda by critics.
Essex magistrates courts claimed £222,400 (3,708 fines) in admin costs and £521,934 (8,700 fines) went to Gordon Brown’s Treasury.
Spending by Essex Safety Camera Partnership is now predicted to increase by a whopping £830,479 during 2003/4, soaring to a record £5,980,765.
Motoring campaigners slammed the quango after reading our findings.
The RAC Foundation’s Kevin Delaney – a former Met police chief – said: “Speed cameras are now a boom industry.
“These figures suggest that agencies operating speed cameras should not be allowed to keep the proceeds of fines.
“The camera partnerships are answerable to almost nobody.”
And Mark McArthur-Christie, of the Association of British Drivers, said: “Drivers who have been caught in speed traps will be absolutely livid to discover how their fines have been spent.
“The Government claims all the money is used to improve road safety — now we know the truth.
“But the only crime of Essex is to have let these figures emerge — other camera operators are secretly spending in the same way.”
Essex project manager Andrew Harris defended the cash grab, saying: “The salary figures are very reasonable.
“We believe we have a cost-effective method of speed enforcement using police officers on their rest days.
“We follow Treasury rules by not detracting from normal police resourcing.
“The £460,000 was partly used to refurbish a former magistrates court to make it more suitable for the activities we carry out.
“Hospitality would cover the cost of refreshments for guests visiting our premises.”
The London Safety Camera Partnership — part of Transport For London — admitted spending a whopping £4,549,380 during 2002/3.
But the car-hating organisation REFUSED to reveal details of its finances when approached by The Sun.
Our report comes as London Mayor Ken Livingstone called for speed cameras to be installed in EVERY neighbourhood.
The Essex account details emerged as the agency was hit by two new revelations.
Firstly, sneaky mobile speed camera operators were spotted ignoring parking laws while nicking drivers.
The Sun snapped a mobile Gatso clocking a string of motorists on the A128 Ingrave Road near Brentwood, Essex, this month.
The police speed camera operator — employed by Essex Safety Camera Partnership — clogged up the busy 750 Basildon- Romford bus route by putting camera equipment in a bus parking pay.
Motorists risk a £30 fixed penalty or fine of up to £1,000 if they break the Road Traffic Regulations Act sections 5&8, which bans parking on a bus stop clearway.
Another Gatso camera van monitoring a single carriageway near Brentwood, Essex, ignored a double yellow line by parking on a pavement while snaring drivers.
But Essex Safety Camera Partnership insisted police were exempt from motoring regulations while nabbing speeders.
Liaison officer Kelly Fairweather claimed: “Emergency services are exempt from normal traffic regulations to carry out their work and the police were carrying out this enforcement.
“The police have weighed up the pros and cons of this site and they have decided that parking here was acceptable.”
Secondly, new figures revealed that road deaths on Essex roads rose sharply last year — despite the soaring number of Gatsos.
Essex suffered 116 fatalities in 2003 — a jump of more than 25 per cent compared to 2002 when just 92 lives were lost.
Where money really goes
By HENRY ADAMS
THE Government’s claim that all the cash from speed camera fines is spent on road safety is today exposed by The Sun as a LIE.
Last year some 1.2million motorists were caught in traps and had to fork out £70million in £60 fines.
But we can reveal that processing the fines has created a whole industry, with layers of bureaucrats and expenses paid for from the cash pot.
The Sun, campaigning to remove speed cameras from safe stretches of road, has obtained a copy of the confidential accounts of the Essex Safety Camera Partnership for 2002/3 — and it reveals a shocking Gatso gravy train.
The agency, backed by Essex police and local councils, is one of 42 Quangos operating speed cameras across Britain.
Last year its 51 cameras nailed 94,537 drivers on the county’s 5,000 miles of roads, bringing in £5,672,220.
But the report reveals it blew £5.15MILLION on a vast and unnecessary empire of staff and buildings.
Last night a camera agency insider said: “None of these jobs or buildings existed until a few years ago. Now there’s so much cash floating about from fines that we can’t even spend it all.”
Ironically, road deaths — which the Government says Gatso cameras prevent — rose in the county last year.
Essex police claimed an astonishing £2,444,420 of the £5.15million.
KER-CHING! £1.43million — the proceeds of 23,834 fines — went on salaries for police officers and bureaucrats who control the Gatsos.
Some £510,000 of it went on overtime alone.
KER-CHING! £460,000 (7,600 fines) paid for a lavish makeover at the camera enforcement HQ. Forty full-time bureaucrats are employed to pursue motorists and work from two specially-converted, unmarked office buildings in Billericay, Essex.
KER-CHING! £82,876 (1,380 fines) went on “travelling and subsistence expenses”.
KER-CHING! £9,364 (160 fines) was used to buy plush office furniture. “Internal decorations” cost £4,667 while £300 was eaten up by “hospitality and entertaining”.
KER-CHING! Councils in Essex claimed £2,487,380 (41,456 fines) including £237,126 on “outside consultants". The county council spent £16,730 on “advertising and publicity” — dismissed as propaganda by critics.
Essex magistrates courts claimed £222,400 (3,708 fines) in admin costs and £521,934 (8,700 fines) went to Gordon Brown’s Treasury.
Spending by Essex Safety Camera Partnership is now predicted to increase by a whopping £830,479 during 2003/4, soaring to a record £5,980,765.
Motoring campaigners slammed the quango after reading our findings.
The RAC Foundation’s Kevin Delaney – a former Met police chief – said: “Speed cameras are now a boom industry.
“These figures suggest that agencies operating speed cameras should not be allowed to keep the proceeds of fines.
“The camera partnerships are answerable to almost nobody.”
And Mark McArthur-Christie, of the Association of British Drivers, said: “Drivers who have been caught in speed traps will be absolutely livid to discover how their fines have been spent.
“The Government claims all the money is used to improve road safety — now we know the truth.
“But the only crime of Essex is to have let these figures emerge — other camera operators are secretly spending in the same way.”
Essex project manager Andrew Harris defended the cash grab, saying: “The salary figures are very reasonable.
“We believe we have a cost-effective method of speed enforcement using police officers on their rest days.
“We follow Treasury rules by not detracting from normal police resourcing.
“The £460,000 was partly used to refurbish a former magistrates court to make it more suitable for the activities we carry out.
“Hospitality would cover the cost of refreshments for guests visiting our premises.”
The London Safety Camera Partnership — part of Transport For London — admitted spending a whopping £4,549,380 during 2002/3.
But the car-hating organisation REFUSED to reveal details of its finances when approached by The Sun.
Our report comes as London Mayor Ken Livingstone called for speed cameras to be installed in EVERY neighbourhood.
The Essex account details emerged as the agency was hit by two new revelations.
Firstly, sneaky mobile speed camera operators were spotted ignoring parking laws while nicking drivers.
The Sun snapped a mobile Gatso clocking a string of motorists on the A128 Ingrave Road near Brentwood, Essex, this month.
The police speed camera operator — employed by Essex Safety Camera Partnership — clogged up the busy 750 Basildon- Romford bus route by putting camera equipment in a bus parking pay.
Motorists risk a £30 fixed penalty or fine of up to £1,000 if they break the Road Traffic Regulations Act sections 5&8, which bans parking on a bus stop clearway.
Another Gatso camera van monitoring a single carriageway near Brentwood, Essex, ignored a double yellow line by parking on a pavement while snaring drivers.
But Essex Safety Camera Partnership insisted police were exempt from motoring regulations while nabbing speeders.
Liaison officer Kelly Fairweather claimed: “Emergency services are exempt from normal traffic regulations to carry out their work and the police were carrying out this enforcement.
“The police have weighed up the pros and cons of this site and they have decided that parking here was acceptable.”
Secondly, new figures revealed that road deaths on Essex roads rose sharply last year — despite the soaring number of Gatsos.
Essex suffered 116 fatalities in 2003 — a jump of more than 25 per cent compared to 2002 when just 92 lives were lost.
cazzo said:
[ ... ]Essex project manager Andrew Harris [said], “We believe we have a cost-effective method of speed enforcement using police officers on their rest days."
So the next time you can't get an Essex BiB to attend a mugging, burglary or whatever, ... it's because they're too tired
- Streaky (See simpo_two's post in www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=2&f=10&t=77493)
>> Edited by streaky on Thursday 29th January 21:30
I've often wondered about the use of police personel while on their rest days.
If they need a rest day to ensure they are on top form for carrying out their police duties, are they not overstrecthing them selves by working for robbing...oops i meant camera partnerships?
also
As their on a rest day, are they actually on police business in the sense that speed and parking laws can be flaunted?
If they need a rest day to ensure they are on top form for carrying out their police duties, are they not overstrecthing them selves by working for robbing...oops i meant camera partnerships?
also
As their on a rest day, are they actually on police business in the sense that speed and parking laws can be flaunted?
xxxxxxrich said:Well, if the old joke about Soviet policemen applies ...
So how many real Police men does 70 Mil buy?
I noticed that they all travel in 3's now so there is effectivly less of them about. I can understand there being two but why 3?
One can read.
One can write.
And the other keeps an eye on the two intellectuals!
(With apologies to the BiB here who can not only read and write, but can think clearly too.)
Variations on this old joke can be posted here
. Streaky
ok don't flame me for this. i hate scameras as much as the next person, but here is a thought.
The money they get from scameras is supposed to go back into road safety, but was spent on things like buildings and office equipment etc. By having scameras on the road and raking in soooooo much money and then using the money to buy crap rather than investing it, doesn't this in turn help our economy by keeping companies in work (building companies) and keeping retail companies happy (buying chair, only an example) which in turn means no resession? when the rest of the world is a bit hard up...
Just a thought. Does that make sense.
The money they get from scameras is supposed to go back into road safety, but was spent on things like buildings and office equipment etc. By having scameras on the road and raking in soooooo much money and then using the money to buy crap rather than investing it, doesn't this in turn help our economy by keeping companies in work (building companies) and keeping retail companies happy (buying chair, only an example) which in turn means no resession? when the rest of the world is a bit hard up...
Just a thought. Does that make sense.
d3ano said:Something similar led to the French Revolution - Streaky
ok don't flame me for this. i hate scameras as much as the next person, but here is a thought.
The money they get from scameras is supposed to go back into road safety, but was spent on things like buildings and office equipment etc. By having scameras on the road and raking in soooooo much money and then using the money to buy crap rather than investing it, doesn't this in turn help our economy by keeping companies in work (building companies) and keeping retail companies happy (buying chair, only an example) which in turn means no resession? when the rest of the world is a bit hard up...
Just a thought. Does that make sense.
Policemen LIKE working rest days. If we are given less than 15 days notice, then it is time and a half. If it's less than 5 days notice, it DOUBLE BUBBLE!!
That said, I've never worked with scameras, let me make that very clear.
I've said it before on the Gassing Station, and I'll say it again. The Police should NOT collect any proportion of fines revenue. It is imperative that the Police are entirely independant of politics and revenue collection. The Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise collect revenue and they are very good at it. The Police should play no part. If money needs to be spent on road safety, they government should have a road safety budget. Chief Constables should bid for funds to address the needs of their force, submitting a business case demonstarting why enforcement is required to address specific identified problems.
That said, I've never worked with scameras, let me make that very clear.
I've said it before on the Gassing Station, and I'll say it again. The Police should NOT collect any proportion of fines revenue. It is imperative that the Police are entirely independant of politics and revenue collection. The Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise collect revenue and they are very good at it. The Police should play no part. If money needs to be spent on road safety, they government should have a road safety budget. Chief Constables should bid for funds to address the needs of their force, submitting a business case demonstarting why enforcement is required to address specific identified problems.
andrew54 said:
The Police should NOT collect any proportion of fines revenue.
But how else can we persuade the cops to do something about the hoards of drivers who overtake me when I'm driving on the speed limits?
Have you heard the story about the "Three Billy Goats Gruff"?
streaky said:
ok don't flame me for this. i hate scameras as much as the next person, but here is a thought.
The money they get from scameras is supposed to go back into road safety, but was spent on things like buildings and office equipment etc. By having scameras on the road and raking in soooooo much money and then using the money to buy crap rather than investing it, doesn't this in turn help our economy by keeping companies in work (building companies) and keeping retail companies happy (buying chair, only an example) which in turn means no resession? when the rest of the world is a bit hard up...
Just a thought. Does that make sense.
Something similar led to the French Revolution - Streaky
Then they have a nice fat depreciation account on buildings/ F&F/Computers - besides Gatsos and talivans to dump the excess loot in! Plus a few other lovely creative accounting techniques. Experts at it by now judging from those stats they keep spouting!
Is anyone really surprised about the rapid creation of hierarchical layers of penpushers financed by the cameras?
What could be easier? Place automatic money-gathering machines in the best possible places for maximum effect and sit back and watch the money come in. At the same time, claim that you are doing it for a good cause, calling your opponents uncaring louts. Easy!
What could be easier? Place automatic money-gathering machines in the best possible places for maximum effect and sit back and watch the money come in. At the same time, claim that you are doing it for a good cause, calling your opponents uncaring louts. Easy!
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