In this section: Hold them to account
Speeding and other motoring fines
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
The standard speeding fine is £100 and 3 penalty points. In 2024 police in England and Wales dealt with 3,028,022 speed limit offences, out of 4,375,421 motoring offences in all; 96.9% of speed and traffic-signal offences were caught by camera. More were dealt with by a course (1,793,294) than by a fine paid (1,210,505). Fine money goes to the Consolidated Fund, not the police or the council.
Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: Home Office, legislation.gov.uk.
Key figures
- 3,028,022Speed limit offences dealt with, England and Wales up on a year earlier: +312,432 (+11.5%) vs 1 January 2023
- 1,793,294Motoring offences dealt with by a course up on a year earlier: +149,680 (+9.1%) vs 1 January 2023
- 1,210,505Fixed penalties paid up on a year earlier: +85,368 (+7.6%) vs 1 January 2023
- 96.9%Speed and signal offences caught by camera down on a year earlier: −0.1 pts (−0.1%) vs 1 January 2023
- 4,375,421All motoring offences dealt with up on a year earlier: +328,167 (+8.1%) vs 1 January 2023
Source: Home Office.
What is the short version?
- The fine has not gone up since 2013. Other common penalties are £200 and 6 points for a hand-held phone and £300 for driving without insurance.
- A course costs about the same as the fine: £82 to £98 in the areas we checked. That money goes to the course provider and the police, not the Treasury.
- Many notices are cancelled: 843,849 in 2024, most often because the driver could not be identified.
- Cameras no longer pay for themselves. Since April 2007 camera fine income has gone to the Treasury, and camera partnerships have been funded by grant.
How many offences were dealt with in the latest year?
Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: Home Office.
Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: Home Office.
Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: Home Office.
Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: Home Office.
The numbers behind this chart
| Year | Speed limit offences |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,494,183 |
| 2012 | 1,590,384 |
| 2013 | 1,659,846 |
| 2014 | 1,863,317 |
| 2015 | 1,944,978 |
| 2016 | 1,970,207 |
| 2017 | 2,013,830 |
| 2018 | 2,101,647 |
| 2019 | 2,253,948 |
| 2020 | 2,006,382 |
| 2021 | 2,371,813 |
| 2022 | 2,495,584 |
| 2023 | 2,715,590 |
| 2024 | 3,028,022 |
Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: Home Office.
Fine, course or court: how is each offence dealt with?
Someone caught speeding modestly over the limit is usually offered a speed awareness course instead of a fine and points, if they have not taken one in the past three years. Serious or repeated speeding goes to court. Many notices are cancelled, most often because the driver could not be identified or the vehicle was an emergency vehicle on a call.
Calendar years, all police forces including the Metropolitan Police. Courses are counted under the Home Office’s heading "driver retraining", which covers speed awareness and other national courses. A small number of notices are still incomplete when the figures are published.
The numbers behind this chart
| Year | Course (driver retraining) | Fine paid | Court action | Notice cancelled | Other or not yet recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011Details for 2011 | 317,609 | 1,263,980 | 261,001 | 302,776 | 439,515 |
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2012Details for 2012 | 310,732 | 1,228,781 | 262,337 | 316,451 | 499,149 |
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2013Details for 2013 | 810,220 | 1,085,097 | 239,781 | 329,381 | 116,041 |
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2014Details for 2014 | 1,024,186 | 995,417 | 285,861 | 296,768 | 32,884 |
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2015Details for 2015 | 1,088,765 | 991,651 | 306,553 | 299,508 | 16,506 |
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2016Details for 2016 | 1,102,323 | 961,715 | 313,583 | 332,056 | 13,786 |
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2017Details for 2017 | 1,085,183 | 952,805 | 342,107 | 356,484 | 10,839 |
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2018Details for 2018 | 1,112,412 | 983,689 | 373,315 | 358,889 | 9,363 |
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2019Details for 2019 | 1,250,737 | 1,000,061 | 383,259 | 383,759 | 11,701 |
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2020Details for 2020 | 1,056,362 | 923,331 | 380,259 | 469,972 | 12,149 |
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2021Details for 2021 | 1,310,675 | 1,037,869 | 410,475 | 530,726 | 13,154 |
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2022Details for 2022 | 1,474,634 | 1,040,537 | 412,298 | 652,846 | 12,227 |
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2023Details for 2023 | 1,643,614 | 1,125,137 | 415,192 | 850,619 | 12,692 |
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2024Details for 2024 | 1,793,294 | 1,210,505 | 435,159 | 843,849 | 92,614 |
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Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: Home Office.
How much is each fixed penalty?
| Offence | Fine | Points | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
SpeedingDetails for Speeding | £100 | 3 | 16 August 2013 |
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Using a hand-held phone while drivingDetails for Using a hand-held phone while driving | £200 | 6 | 1 March 2017 |
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Driving without insuranceDetails for Driving without insurance | £300 | 6 | 16 August 2013 |
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Careless drivingDetails for Careless driving | £100 | — | 16 August 2013 |
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Not wearing a seat beltDetails for Not wearing a seat belt | £100 | — | 16 August 2013 |
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Failing to identify the driverDetails for Failing to identify the driver | £200 | — | 16 August 2013 |
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Levels are set by the Fixed Penalty Order 2000; the current table dates from August 2013, and the £200 hand-held phone penalty from March 2017. None has been uprated since, so in real terms each is worth less every year. A court can impose far more, within the maximums for each offence.
Checked 22 September 2026. Source: legislation.gov.uk. Checked by hand 22 September 2026.
What do speed awareness courses cost, and who gets the fee?
The course fee is set locally and paid to the course provider, which passes on a share to cover the police's costs. Examples of current fees: Lincolnshire £98, Staffordshire £93, Hartlepool £82.
Since October 2022 the fee may be set above the cost of the course, but Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, s90G requires any excess to go on road safety:
A fee may be set at a level that exceeds the cost of an approved course and related administrative expenses, but any excess must be used for the purpose of promoting road safety.
A police cost-recovery element of £45 a course is widely reported but could not be read on an official page, so it is not shown as fact. No national count of courses offered is published: the Home Office records courses taken, as "driver retraining".
How many offences do cameras catch?
No official count of fixed speed or red-light cameras is published. Figures in the press come from freedom of information requests or commercial databases. What is published is how offences were detected: 96.9% of speed and traffic-signal offences in 2024 were caught by a camera.
Until 2006-07, camera partnerships were funded from the fines their cameras generated ("netting off"). From April 2007 fine income went to the Treasury and partnerships were funded by grant instead. House of Commons Library.
Where does the money go?
Police fixed penalties, including camera-detected speeding (England and Wales)
Consolidated Fund (general Treasury funds) the Consolidated Fund. Not police forces or councils.
Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, s82(1), applying Courts Act 2003, s38(4)
Any sums received by the Lord Chancellor under this section are to be paid by him into the Consolidated Fund. (Courts Act 2003, s38(4), which s82 of the 1988 Act applies to fixed penalties.)
A DfT written answer (UIN 12191, 8 November 2024) puts it plainly: money from speeding fines "does not go to police forces or local authorities".
Speed awareness and other driver retraining course fees
Kept by the body that collects it the police and the course provider, to cover the course and its administration. Any excess must be spent on road safety.
A fee may be set at a level that exceeds the cost of an approved course and related administrative expenses, but any excess must be used for the purpose of promoting road safety.
Fines, fixed penalties and forfeitures in Scotland
Consolidated Fund (general Treasury funds) the Scottish Consolidated Fund, with a matching reduction in UK funding for the Scottish Government.
Scotland Act 1998 (Designation of Receipts) (Amendment) Order 2017
Revenue from FFFPs is paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund (SCF) after being collected by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and other bodies.
Legal position as of 22 September 2026. Source: legislation.gov.uk. Checked by hand 22 September 2026.
Money from fines and penalty receipts, including for speeding, goes to the Treasury into the Consolidated Fund. It does not go to police forces or local authorities. Department for Transport, written answer, November 2024
Are speeding fines about safety or money?
The case that they are about safety
- The fine goes to the Treasury, so the force that issues it does not benefit.
- Most drivers caught are offered education rather than a fine.
- Camera sites are meant to be placed where collisions have happened.
- The fine has not risen since 2013, which is not how a revenue measure behaves.
The case that money matters
- Course fees fund police road safety units, so detection pays for itself.
- The number of offences dealt with has risen steadily since 2011.
- There is no public national register of cameras to check where they are.
- Critics, including motoring groups, argue some limits and sites are chosen for volume.
Common questions
- How much is a speeding fine?
- The minimum is a £100 fixed penalty and 3 points. A court can impose more, based on income and speed.
- Who gets the money from a speed awareness course?
- The course provider and the police, to cover their costs. Since October 2022 the fee may exceed cost, but any excess must be spent on road safety (Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, s90G). Fees are set locally, between about £82 and £98 in the areas we checked.
- Where does speeding fine money go?
- To the Consolidated Fund, the Treasury’s general account. Not to police forces or local authorities.
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The figures belong to the bodies that published them and are used under their terms, listed in Sources for this page; most are Crown copyright under the Open Government Licence. Only our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, published under CC BY 4.0: reuse them, including commercially, if you credit Tekstak Ltd and link back to this page.
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- Speed limit offences dealt with, England and Wales, yearly since 2011 (CSV) JSON Home Office: Open Government Licence v3.0
- All motoring offences dealt with by police, yearly since 2011 (CSV) JSON Home Office: Open Government Licence v3.0
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Sources for this page
| Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police powers and procedures: roads policing (fixed penalty notices for motoring offences) | Home Office | 1 January 2024 | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| Fixed Penalty Order 2000, Schedule 1 | legislation.gov.uk | 22 September 2026 | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 (legislation.gov.uk) |
| legislation.gov.uk and official guidance, provision by provision | legislation.gov.uk | 22 September 2026 | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 (legislation.gov.uk) |
Each source's figures are used under the licence shown. Our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, under CC BY 4.0.