Motorists guilty of minor 'crimes' such as parking misdemeanours are to be hit with a £15 surcharge to help victims of domestic violence or sex attacks. The amount will be added to fixed penalty tickets given out by police for breaking parking regulations, contravening a stop sign, speeding and even having dirty windows.
Motorists will be forced by law to pay the charge – even though their offence has no 'victim'.
Currently only those fined in court for more serious offences are liable to pay the surcharge.
Ministers say they want to extend the payment to all types of fixed penalties as soon as possible.
Matthew Elliott of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'If the Treasury wants to raise money from the courts, it should be more honest and call this surcharge a "justice tax".
'By calling it a "victims' surcharge" and applying it to minor motoring offences and parking tickets where there are clearly no victims, the Government is making a mockery of the tax system.
'This is clearly another stealth tax designed to plug Britain's huge debt.'
In a Parliamentary answer slipped out before the Christmas recess, ministers confirmed that they intend to extend the victim surcharge to all fixed penalty notices and, most controversially, 'road traffic offences'.
Thus, the current minimum fine of £60 for speeding or not wearing a seat belt would be increased to £75. A 'penalty notice for disorder' for drunkenness, criminal damage and shoplifting would rise from £80 to £95.
The list of motoring offences for which fixed penalty notices may be given is more than 20 pages long.
It includes having a tyre with insufficient tread, having windows which are not clear and having windscreen wipers which do not conform to regulations.
The victims' surcharge was introduced in April 2007, and between April 2008 and last January it raised more than £6.6million.
That figure will increase hugely when it is extended across the justice system.
Last year, more than 3million drivers were handed fixed penalties for speeding.
The levy was deeply unpopular when it was introduced, and the Magistrates Association said: 'We are against offenders being taxed by stealth and we are against the idea that any individual without a victim should have to pay it.'
Motoring groups are also unhappy with the surcharge, calling it 'unreasonable'.
In the Parliamentary reply which revealed the Government's plan, Justice Minister Claire Ward said: 'It is Government policy that, where possible, offenders should contribute to victims' services as part of their reparation.
'Provisions were therefore included in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 providing for a surcharge to be payable on criminal convictions, penalty notices for disorder and on fixed penalty notices for road traffic offences where the offences are persistent and serious.
'The victim surcharge has been applied initially only to fines imposed in magistrates and Crown courts at a rate of £15. We intend to add the surcharge to other disposals as soon as it becomes feasible.
'Proceeds raised from the surcharge provide a ring-fenced source of funding for a wide variety of organisations providing non-financial support to victims and witnesses of crime.'
Last night a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: 'The MoJ spends over £360million a year supporting and compensating victims. It is right that offenders should contribute towards these services.'
source: dailymail
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