FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST DJ 079/15 – RESPONSE

On 21st December, 2010, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) received a Counsel's opinion on the legality of offering speed awareness for payment. This opinion was also sent to the Home Office. The opinion was obtained by Road Safety Support Ltd. (RSS)*.
My request is for the following information:

REQUEST

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RESPONSE

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1. The date that your constabulary received a copy of this opinion and the name of the body that provided it; / No information held
The staff at the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership (MRSP) are aware that RSS* obtained legal advice in 2010, but the Partnership does not at this time, have a copy of any document communicating information about the advice. / At the time the advice was obtained, Liverpool City Council was the lead Authority in relation to the MRSP. Staff of the MRSP, were employees of a joint venture company, 2020 Liverpool. Merseyside Police were not a partner in the joint venture company. In October 2013 the lead partner of the MRSP changed to Merseyside Police.
2. The earliest date on which this opinion, in whole or in part, was disseminated to:
a. police officers;
b. others employed by the constabulary; and the generic titles of those employees,
e.g. central ticket office staff;
c. any partnerships involved in the speed awareness scheme; and the names of those partnerships;
d. any body which received any of the money paid by drivers to attend the courses; and the names of those bodies. / Information not held.
Decisions in relation to the offer of a speed awareness course are made centrally. The legal advice is not required to be known by the staff making the appropriate decisions in accordance with the relevant criteria.
As no information is held in relation to whether the opinion was provided to Merseyside Police, the Force can neither confirm nor deny the extent of any official promulgation of the information within the Force.
MRSP and the course provider will receive monies from the course fee. See the attached .pdf list for details of the course providers. / Merseyside Police has operated some form of diversionary course since the late 1990’s. The basis for such courses can be traced to the North Report 1998. There has also been considerable guidance provided from ACPO over the years encouraging the use of such diversionary courses as a means of improving driver behaviour and thereby road safety. The Force did not start operating a speed awareness course until 2007.
The driver can chose a course location from a list provided showing the different providers and the relevant fee.

REQUEST

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RESPONSE

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

3. The means by which the opinion was disseminated in the first instance; / No information held. /
4. Whether or not the dissemination is a continuing process for new officers, etc. / No information held
The information is not currently disseminated to staff. /
5. Did the constabulary obtain its own opinion? And if so the date on which it was obtained / No /
6. If the constabulary did not receive the RSS opinion and did not obtain its own legal opinion then what Common Law and/or Statute does the constabulary, rely on to demonstrate that charging motorists for speed awareness courses is lawful. / A full business case was put to ACPO Cabinet and Council in 2010 for the adoption and charging regime of NDORS. At that time, the only legal opinion legitimising the regime, was historic and not to be found written anywhere in any authoritative form, originating back to 1991 from the Devon and Cornwall CPS, who at that time gave legal mandate for the formation of the National Driver Improvement Scheme.
In 2010, NDORS wished to change the charging regime and expand it to include other courses, and in doing so sought a renewed legal opinion from David Perry QC. Whilst this was never produced to ACPO Cabinet and Council, it was referenced in the business case which was agreed by Cabinet and Council and ratified in the council meeting in 2011. This being ACPO doctrine, it was then expected that all forces would collaborate on NDORS. /

DJAN- 03/2015