23 Mar 2015
The public have voted to have around £300,000 spent on road safety across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys.
An online poll by Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Christopher Salmon asked how the public wanted to see the funds spent. They said: “Keep it for road safety.”
Mr Salmon said: “This money is the surplus that comes to police from awareness courses attended by motorists guilty of speeding. New arrangements mean it comes straight to Police and Crime Commissioners.
“It’s my job to listen to what the public want. They’ve told me to keep these funds for roads safety, so that’s what I’ll do.”
The Commissioner will now consider how it will be distributed. It is likely that he will invite bids for initiatives that will benefit the whole of Dyfed-Powys.
Thousands of Dyfed-Powys people booked for motoring offences every year choose to attend an educational course. Those caught within certain limits are offered the choice of points on their licence and a fine of £100 – or a course for which they pay £85.
In Wales, that £85 is spent as follows: £5 goes to the administration of a national database that records who’s done the course and where; £35 goes to GoSafe, a partnership of police, local government and the Welsh Government - they run the speed cameras; £22.31 goes on setting up the courses - venues, tutors and so on.
That leaves £22.69 per course as a surplus. In Dyfed-Powys from this year this money will go to the Commissioner. Last month’s poll saw Mr Salmon ask the public whether they would prefer the money to be spent on road safety or on other crime prevention initiatives.
From last May to the end of January, 7,432 drivers attended a Dyfed-Powys speed awareness course generating almost £170,000.
Poll - How do you think these funds would best be used? Results – 40% Road safety, 31% Non-road safety policing; 29% Other. Respondents – 255.
