Payment of penalties into Consolidated Fund etc

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

The clause is about the payment of penalties. Again, we touch on previous debates; we have often mentioned the analogy of parking, imperfect though it is. The accusation is sometimes made that parking fines are used as a revenue-raising mechanism. The clause makes it clear that money received through the issue of a fixed or variable penalty, including late payments or interest charges, must be paid into the relevant Consolidated Fund. Subsection (2) defines those funds.

Professor Macrory recommended that there should be no perverse financial incentive for regulators to favour a particular sanction. In our discussions about the various new powers available to regulators under the Bill, I have said several times that we are trying to avoid perverse incentives to use one route rather than another. The payment of penalties into the Consolidated Fund is important. The clause ensures that and acts as a safeguard against the kind of incentives that we want to avoid.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 69 ordered to stand part of the Bill.