The Fines Collection (Amendment) Regulations 2005

• Citation: S.I. 2005/484
• Sections: 16

Section 1 Citation, commencement, duration, extent, definition and transitional provision

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Fines Collection (Amendment) Regulations 2005 and shall come into force—

(a) for the purposes of regulation 2 of these Regulations and this regulation on 30th March 2005; and

(b) for all other purposes on 1st April 2005.

(2) These Regulations shall cease to have effect on the 31st March 2006.

(3) These Regulations apply to local justice areas, in England and Wales to which the provisions of Schedule 5 of the Courts Act 2003 have effect in accordance with The Collection of Fines (Pilot Schemes) Order 2004 .

(4) In these Regulations a reference to the “Fines Collection Regulations 2004 ” means a reference to that Regulation as amended by the Fines Collection (Amendment) Regulations 2004 .

(5) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to a regulation by number alone is a reference to the regulation so numbered in the Fines Collection Regulations 2004.

(6) Unless the court or fines officer orders otherwise, any orders made by virtue of the Fines Collections Regulations 2004 before 1st April 2005 shall continue to have effect as if these Regulations, other than regulation 2, had not been made.

Section 2 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

In paragraph (3) of regulation 1 (citation, commencement, duration, application and interpretation) for “31st March 2005” substitute “31 March 2006”.

Section 3 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

(1) Amend regulation 1 as follows.

(2) In paragraph (4) after “petty sessions areas” insert “or local justice areas”.

(3) In paragraph (5) in the definition of “clamping contractor” for “justices chief executive” substitute “designated officer”.

Section 4 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

(1) Amend regulation 3 (transitional provision) as follows.

(2) In paragraph (1) after “any such order or application” insert “in the local justice area equivalent to that petty sessions area”.

(3) In paragraph (2) after “any such order or application” insert “in the local justice area equivalent to that petty sessions area”.

Section 5 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

(1) Amend regulation 4 (Application with modifications of the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971) as follows.

(2) After paragraph (d) insert—

(dd) delete section 6(5);

(de) in paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 3 for “three” substitute “two”;

(3) In paragraph (e)—

(a) for the words from the beginning to “following Part I—”, substitute “for paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of Part I of Schedule 3 substitute the following paragraph 4—”;

(b) in the substituted text—

(i) omit “PART I”; and

(ii) for each occurrence of “Net earnings” substitute “Attachable Earnings”;

(c) at the end of the tables inserted by regulation 4(e) insert the following—

(5) Subject to paragraphs 6 and 7, the sum to be deducted by an employer under an attachment of earnings order on any pay-day shall be—

(a) where the debtor’s earnings from the employer are payable weekly, a sum equal to the appropriate percentage of the attachable earnings otherwise payable on that pay-day; and for this purpose the appropriate percentage is the percentage (or percentages) specified in column 2 of Table A in paragraph 4 in relation to the band in column 1 of that Table within which the attachable earnings fall;

(b) where his earnings from the employer are payable monthly, a sum equal to the appropriate percentage of the attachable earnings otherwise payable on that pay-day; and for this purpose the appropriate percentage is the percentage (or percentages) specified in column 2 of Table B in paragraph 4 in relation to the band in column 1 of that Table within which the attachable earnings fall;

(c) where his earnings from the employer are payable at regular intervals of a whole number of weeks or months, the sum arrived at by—

(i) calculating what would be his weekly or monthly attachable earnings by dividing the attachable earnings payable to him by the employer on the pay-day by that whole number (of weeks or months, as the case may be),

(ii) ascertaining the percentage (or percentages) specified in column 2 of Table A (if the whole number is of weeks) or of Table B (if the whole number is of months) in paragraph 4 opposite the band in column 1 of that Table within which the notional attachable earnings calculated under paragraph (i) fall, and

(iii) calculating the sum which equals the appropriate percentage (or percentages) of the notional attachable earnings for any of those weeks or months and multiplying that sum by the whole number of weeks or months, as appropriate.

(6) Where paragraph 5 applies and the amount to be paid to the debtor on any pay-day includes an advance in respect of future pay, the sum to be deducted on that pay-day shall be the aggregate of the amount which would otherwise fall to be deducted under paragraph 5 and—

(a) where the amount advanced would otherwise have been paid on a single pay-day, the sum which would have been deducted on that pay-day in accordance with paragraph 5 if the amount advanced had been the amount of attachable earnings on that day; or

(b) where the amount advanced would otherwise have been paid on more than one pay-day, the sums which would have been deducted on each of the relevant pay-days in accordance with paragraph 5 if—

(i) an equal proportion of the amount advanced had been paid on each of those days; and

(ii) the attachable earnings of the debtor on each of those days had been an amount equal to that proportion.

(7) Where the amount payable to the debtor on any pay-day is reduced by reason of an earlier advance of pay, the attachable earnings of the debtor on that day shall, for the purposes of paragraph 5, be the amount defined in paragraph 3 less the amount of the deduction.

(8) Subject to paragraphs 9 and 10, where the debtor’s earnings from the employer are payable at regular intervals other than at intervals to which paragraph 5 applies, the sum to be deducted on any pay-day shall be arrived at by—

(a) calculating what would be his daily attachable earnings by dividing the attachable earnings payable to him by the employer on the pay-day by the number of days in the interval,

(b) ascertaining the percentage (or percentages) specified in column 2 of Table C in paragraph 4 opposite the band in column 1 of that Table within which the notional attachable earnings calculated under sub-paragraph (a) fall, and

(c) calculating the sum which equals the appropriate percentage (or percentages) of the notional daily attachable earnings and multiplying that sum by the number of days in the interval.

(9) Where the debtor’s earnings are payable as mentioned in paragraph 8, and the amount to be paid to the debtor on any pay-day includes an amount advanced in respect of future pay, the amount of the debtor’s notional attachable earnings under sub-paragraph (a) of that paragraph shall be calculated in accordance with the formula—

where:

A is the amount of attachable earnings payable to him on that pay-day (exclusive of the amount advanced);

B is the amount advanced;

C is the number of days in the period for which the amount of attachable earnings is payable; and

D is the number of days in the period for which, but for the agreement to pay in advance, the amount advanced would have been payable.

(10) Paragraph 7 applies in relation to paragraph 8 as it applies in relation to paragraph 5.

(11) Where earnings are payable to a debtor by the employer by 2 or more series of payments at regular intervals—

(a) if some or all of the intervals are of different lengths—

(i) for the purpose of arriving at the sum to be deducted, whichever of paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 is appropriate shall apply to the series with the shortest interval (or, if there is more than one series with the shortest interval, such one of those series as the employer may choose), and

(ii) in relation to the earnings payable in every other series, the sum to be deducted shall be 20 per cent of the attachable earnings or, where on any pay-day an amount advanced is also paid, 20 per cent of the aggregate of the attachable earnings and the amount advanced;

(b) if all of the intervals are of the same length, whichever of paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 is appropriate shall apply to such series as the employer may choose and sub-paragraph (a)(ii) shall apply to every other series,

and paragraph 7 shall apply in relation to sub-paragraph (a)(ii) above as it applies in relation to paragraph 5.

(12) Subject to paragraphs 13 and 14, where the debtor’s earnings from the employer are payable at irregular intervals, the sums to be deducted on any pay-day shall be arrived at by—

(a) calculating what would be his daily attachable earnings by dividing the attachable earnings payable to him by the employer on the pay-day—

(i) by the number of days since earnings were last payable by the employer to him, or

(ii) if the earnings are the first earnings to be payable by the employer to him with respect to the employment in question, by the number of days since he began the employment;

(b) ascertaining the percentage (or percentages) specified in column 2 of Table C in paragraph 4 opposite the band in column 1 of that Table within which the notional attachable earnings calculated under sub-paragraph (a) fall; and

(c) calculating the sum which equals the appropriate percentage (or percentages) of the daily attachable earnings and multiplying that sum by the same number as that of the divisor for the purposes of the calculation mentioned in sub-paragraph (a).

(13) Where on the same pay-day there are payable to the debtor by the employer both earnings payable at regular intervals and earnings payable at irregular intervals, for the purpose of arriving at the sum to be deducted on the pay-day under the foregoing paragraphs all the earnings shall be aggregated and treated as earnings payable at the regular interval.

(14) Where there are earnings payable to the debtor by the employer at regular intervals on one pay-day, and earnings are payable by the employer to him at irregular intervals on a different pay-day, the sum to be deducted on each of the pay-days on which the earnings which are payable at irregular intervals are so payable shall be 20 per cent of the attachable earnings payable to him on the day.

Section 6 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

(1) Amend regulation 6 (application with modifications of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980) as follows.

(2) In paragraph (a), the text substituted or inserted into section 89(2) and (5) of the Magistrates' Court Act 1980 —

(a) for each occurrence of “petty sessions area” substitute “local justice area”, and

(b) for each occurrence of “justices' chief executive” substitute “designated officer”.

(3) In paragraphs (b) and (c), the text substituted into section 90(3) and the text in relation to the insertion into section 91(1), for “justices' chief executive” substitute “designated officer”.

Section 7 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

For regulation 7 (increase in fine) substitute—

(7) The increase in the fine under paragraph 50A shall be 50% of the fine.

Section 8 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

In regulation 8 (delivery of increase notice or further steps notice) for “An increase notice under paragraph 28 or a” substitute “A”.

Section 9 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

(1) Amend regulation 9 (another step available against defaulters) as follows.

(2) In paragraph (2) sub-paragraphs (a) and (b)—

(i) for “paragraph” substitute “subsection”; and

(ii) for “justices' chief executive” substitute “designated officer”.

(3) Omit sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2).

Section 10 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

In regulation 11 (summons for ensuring attendance of P before the court) omit “35,”.

Section 11 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

In regulation 14 (matters to be included in a clamping order) omit paragraph (c).

Section 12 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

In regulation 19 (duties of an authorised person and other members of the contractor’s staff) omit paragraph (6).

Section 13 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

In paragraph (3)(b) of regulation 21 (payment of the fine and any charge or charges and release of vehicle) after “guarantee card)” insert “or may be accepted by credit card (up to the credit limit for which the card is valid)”.

Section 14 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

In paragraph (1) of regulation 22 (removal for storage) for “7 clear days from the date” substitute “24 hours from the time”

Section 15 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

In paragraph (1), (3)(c) and (6) of regulation 24 (sale of clamped vehicles) for “3 months” substitute “1 month”.

Section 16 Amendments to the Fines Collection Regulations 2004

Amend paragraph (1) of regulation 25 (complaints procedure) as follows—

(a) Omit “and the fines officer”; and

(b) After “release of the vehicle.” insert “A complaint can be made to the fines officer during the fines officers' office hours.”.