Finances
Current funding
From 1st April 2007 the Department for Transport (DfT) has given a financial lump sum to both Kent County Council and Medway Council. This money is for road safety work. Both councils have chosen to use this money to continue the good work of the Partnership. Hence police costs (staff and enforcement equipment) are being paid for from the new grant.
Contrary to popular belief, the Partnership does not keep the fines money. Fines collected from Fixed Penalty Notices issued are paid directly to the Government (the Department of Constitutional Affairs (DfCA)); as they have always been.
The amount of grant given to Kent County Council and Medway Council is in no way related to the number of tickets that we issue. As drivers increasingly obey the speed limits, the number of offences we detect will decrease, along with the staff required to process the offences and our costs. As a result, there is no reason for us to try and ‘catch’ drivers out, since this will not provide us with any 'profit'.
The previous 'Cost Recovery' system (explained below) ceased to apply from 31st March 2007 and the 'Rules and Guidance' that determined the size of the budgets available under that mechanism have also ceased to apply.
Funding up to 31st March 2007 – The 'Cost Recovery' system
Before the Partnership was formed in July 2002, each Partner organisation had to pay for safety cameras and staff from its own budget. As a result, Kent Police, for example, had to provide staff and camera films and Kent County Council and Medway Council paid for the erection of the cameras and their maintenance. This money came from taxes and your 'rates'.
Both Councils and the Police have many priorities and providing funding for safety cameras was always a problem when the public were making other demands on the organisations. At the same time the money received from fines went straight to the Government.
The Councils and Kent Police therefore asked if some of that fine money might be returned to subsidise the costs of the cameras and staff.
The system that was set up was called 'Cost Recovery' and it meant that actual costs for running cameras and processing offences were paid for by the Government, which, in turn, used the money that it received in fines.
Year-end audit
At the end of each financial year, the Partnership was required to prepare accounts that are summarised on a grant claim; showing total spend and receipts received from Conditional Offer of a Fixed Penalty notices in the year.
This claim was subject to independent audit.
The audit certificate was submitted to the auditor.
The DfT reconciled the audited account to the payments that were released, and to the receipts that were received from the DfCA in respect of each partnership - the maximum that a partnership can receive for payments relating to that year is the actual value of the Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty Notice receipts.
Audit certificates
Audit certificate 2002-2003
Audit certificate 2003-2004
Audit certificate 2004-2005
Audit certificate 2005-2006
Audit certificate 2006-2007
Quarterly reporting
Kent County Council, as lead local authority in the Partnership, has a responsibility to maintain accounts of income and expenditure for the Partnership, following usual local authority accounting practice.
The Partnership’s project manager is responsible for monitoring the budget and ensuring that the Partnership is on target against operational case forecasts.
Fixed Penalty Notices
Click on the link below to view the number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued, per month, since the Partnership was formed.
Fixed Penalty Notices detected and paid - March 2011