36. Memorandum submitted by Northgate
Information Solutions
SUMMARY
— This memorandum focuses on three
key issues: the use of penalty notice enforcement as an additional
tool to combat anti-social behaviour; the role and responsibilities
of the private sector in relation to anti-social behaviour; and
the need to promote multi-agency working to co-ordinate, educate
and enforce the drive to combat anti-social behaviour in our communities.
— There are arguments for extending
the use of penalty notices in tackling anti-social behaviour and,
in particular, to combat corporate behaviour involving environmental
and social nuisance. However, any extension of their use requires
a clear national framework for their operation and clear guidelines
for the growing number of enforcement agencies.
— Northgate believes that multi-agency
working is critical to tackling anti-social behaviour. This is
fundamentally a matter of transforming relationships and preparing
people for change, rather than simply joining up systems. It requires
an approach that puts people first.
COMMUNITY JUSTICE
AND PENALTY
NOTICE ENFORCEMENT
1. Everyone should enjoy the right to live
free from environmental and social nuisance, and this right should
be respected by all. It is fundamental to the quality of life
and community well-being. To achieve this we need a strong and
robust system of community justice built on two equal pillars—help
and enforcement.
2. Demoralised communities living in run-down
or neglected environments need to know that broader social issues—inequality
and social deprivation—will be tackled at the same time
as their day to day concerns such as poor street lighting, dirty
streets and fear of crime.
3. Community well-being is founded on trust
between local citizens and public authorities. Where there is
perceived inactivity on the part of public authorities to deal
with citizens' day to day concerns, local citizens are less likely
to trust their ability to deliver fair and efficient public services.
When social nuisance or crimes are reported, but nothing done,
then the community becomes a victim too.
4. A proactive approach to educating and
promoting community well-being, backed up by a system of penalty
notice administration where clear and decisive action is taken
to tackle individual concerns, could help to enhance public trust
and improve service delivery.
5. Penalty notices give authorities with
limited resources an additional means of dealing efficiently with
minor offences. Used appropriately, penalty notices can be an
effective way of dealing with high-volume low-level crime, environmental
and social nuisance and other forms of minor civil infringements
of the law which are currently either processed through the courts
or where no action is undertaken. They give authorities with limited
resources an additional means of dealing efficiently with minor
offences.
6. Used appropriately, the penalty notice
system can divert individuals away from the courts and remove
the stigma of having a criminal record. They can also have an
educative role. Penalty notices can have a "ripple"
effect. Once imposed on individuals for particular offences or
infringements, word of mouth quickly leads to other individuals
improving their performance in order to avoid paying similar fines.
By integrating them into the educative process they may assist
changing attitudes and behaviour, at least, in the short term.
EXTENDING PENALTY
NOTICE ENFORCEMENT
7. The Government is proposing to extend
the use of penalty notices to certain cases of shoplifting and
criminal damage and to apply them in relation to disorder offences
to children aged as young as 10. The Department of Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is also consulting on extending
the use of penalty notices.
8. Northgate believes that the penalty notice
system can play an integral role in the administration of justice,
but that the system is only as effective as it is fairly enforced.
The wider use of penalty notices should be part of a co-ordinated
policy mix of education, the promotion of rights and law enforcement
to optimise prevention of low-level social and environmental nuisance.
Community engagement and inclusion in developing effective policies
and effective practice is crucial. Any effective anti-social behaviour
strategy must involve the community both in problem-solving and
change management.
9. It is essential that all authorities
with responsibilities in enforcement benefit from clear guidelines
to direct authorities about the fair and appropriate use of penalty
notices. Enforcement staff need to be sufficiently skilled and
trained to operate the system fairly and equitably.
10. Whilst the Home Office has indicated
that it intends to publish guidelines, there is an apparent lack
of consistency governing penalty notices in relation to anti-social
behaviour. This arises partly from the fact that responsibilities
for different offences and infringements can lie with different
government departments. These inconsistencies relate to issues
such as the amount of time an individual has to pay; the effect
of non-payment of the penalty notice—in some cases the fine
is increased and registered as a fine, in others the individual
will face prosecution for the original offence; whether or not
public bodies can hypothecate penalty notices and for what purposes
the receipts may be used and whether or not the behaviour engaged
in falls under criminal or civil law.
11. As the use of penalty notices grows,
there are strong arguments for a Penalty Notice Act to ensure
a joined up approach to policy making and to help assist in educating
the public about their responsibilities.
12. This new act would lay out the principles
and practices for the use of penalty notices in tackling what
is, in effect, a new category of infringements related to community
wrongdoing.
13. Standardisation of the approach should
neither rule out local flexibility nor the need for specific departmental
guidelines. However, it should provide a uniform national framework
which aids compliance. It can also be used as part of the community
education process to ensure that the public fully understands
why there is a need to tackle community wrongdoing in this way.
14. Unlike court fines, penalty notices
are not related to the ability to pay. This means that problems
can occur if individuals are allowed to accrue large amounts of
unpaid fines. Enforcement systems should monitor their use. But
there needs to be consideration of a wide range of measures to
tackle the problem of non-payment if it is not to grow. Since
the non-payment of a penalty notice ends up, in many instances,
as a registrable fine, this could lead to an increase in criminality.
15. Some local authorities currently provide
time to pay arrangements or payment by instalments, although the
legislation governing anti-social behaviour penalty notices does
not currently provide this. In Canada, the Contraventions Act
1992 provides individuals with a right to representation about
the fine, fee or sentence to be imposed or whether the person
ought to be given time to pay the fine or fee. Other methods which
could be considered are payment through the tax system or discounts
for those on low incomes who pay promptly and provide evidence
of low income.
TACKLING CORPORATE
ANTI-SOCIAL
BEHAVIOUR
16. We all of us have a responsibility to
ensure community well-being, whether we are an individual or an
organisation, a public sector body or part of the private sector.
If individuals believe that there is one standard of law for the
corporate body and another for themselves, this will undermine
public trust in community justice.
17. Corporate anti-social behaviour must
be tackled in much the same way as individual behaviour. All too
often, hard-pressed authorities do not have the time to tackle
high-volume, low-level non-compliance with regulatory rules. Yet,
this may result in daily suffering for employees at work or undermine
levels of compliance generally. Traditionally the use of penalty
notices in the regulatory system has been underplayed or ignored.
18. Defra's recent proposals mark a strong
shift towards extending the use of penalty notices to tackle corporate
anti-social behaviour. Northgate believes that much greater consideration
needs to be given to using penalty notices as an additional tool
in the regulatory environment.
19. In other countries such as New Zealand,
Canada and Australia, they have been widely used as a tool to
strengthen law enforcement, for example in health and safety law
and under Australian environmental legislation where breaches
of the law are minor; where the facts are apparently indisputable;
where there is one-off breach and where a penalty notice could
act as a deterrent.
20. In Australia, at a federal level penalty
notices are normally known as infringement notices and are used
as a significant part of the regulatory system. Some of the laws
and regulations which include provision for penalty notices are
outlined in the table below. This shows the extent of their use
within the regulatory system.
Table 1
AUSTRALIA—LAWS AND REGULATIONS WHICH
PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF INFRINGEMENT NOTICES
| Aboriginal Land (Lake Condah and Framlingham Forest) Act
| Air Navigation (Fuel Spillage) Regulations 1999
|
| Air Navigation Regulations 1947 | Airports (Building Control) Regulations 1996
|
| Airports (Control of On-Airport Activities) Regulations 1997
| Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 1997
|
| Airports (Surface Traffic) Act 1960 | Child Support Act 1988
|
| Civil Aviation Act 1988 | Close Corporations Act 1989
|
| Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 | Conservation Act 1999
|
| Corporate law economic reform program (Audit Reform & Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004
| Corporations Act 1989 |
| Corporations Regulations 2001 | Customs Act 1901
|
| Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 | Defence Act 1903
|
| Education Services for Overseas Students Regulations 2001
| Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000
|
| Environment Protection and Biodiversity |
Excise Act 1901 |
| Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001
| Fisheries Management Regulations 1992 |
| Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 |
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 |
| Interstate Road Transport Regulations 1986 |
Interstate Road Transport Act 1985 |
| Migration Regulations 1994 | National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975
|
| Quarantine Regulations 2000 | Radio communications Act 1983
|
| Radio communications Regulations 1993 | Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984
|
| Road Transport Reform (Dangerous Goods) Act 1995
| Road Transport Reform (Heavy Vehicles Registration) Act 1997
|
| Road Transport Reform (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 1997
| Spam Act 2003 |
| Superannuation (government co-contribution for low income earners) Act 2003
| Sydney Airport Demand Management Act 1997 |
| Taxation Administration Act 1953 | Tradex Scheme Act 1999
|
| |
PROMOTING MULTI-AGENCY
WORKING
21. Northgate believes that multi-agency working is critical
to tackling anti-social behaviour. This is fundamentally a matter
of transforming relationships and preparing people for change,
rather than simply joining up systems. It requires an approach
that, first and foremost, puts people at the heart of any change
management programme.
22. As a technology problem-solver, our experience is
that all too often IT projects are delivered well, but the overall
programmes may be delivered badly. To overcome this, strategic
leadership from the top is required. To be successful, national
leadership must take into account local circumstances and provide
local flexibility or support. It must balance national prescription
with local circumstance. Strong project management is also critical
to success, with working relationships defined and agreed from
the outset.
ABOUT NORTHGATE
Northgate is a technology services company with a difference.
It is committed to high quality public services and understands
the public sector. That knowledge is core to its business.
Northgate's task is to enhance public sector value through
intelligent use of people and information technology systems and
to share in the economic and social benefits that this brings.
Northgate assists the fire and rescue service, local authorities
and the police to promote community well-being by helping them
provide citizens with accessible and responsive one-stop services
based on clear and accurate information.
15 September 2004
| 
