Norris wants tougher fines
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by Mary Williams • Operators who break the law should be given tougher sentences by magistrates, says road safety minister Steven Norris.
"It is regrettable that in a great many cases magistrates seem to underestimate the seriousness of these offences," he says. But Norris rejects com plaints that the Government is risking lives by cutting enforcement budgets.
He defends 20% efficiency cuts: "We believe savings are possible without compromising safety. It is necessary to look at the whole structure and make sure there are lots of indians and not so many chiefs."
This is despite the Vehicle Inspectorate and Licensing Authorities warnings that they are being forced to cut enforcement officers and licensing staff.
Senior Licensing Authority Ronald Ashford says: "It is bloody daft to cut staff across the VI and LA. The Government is making arbitrary cuts regardless of safety."
VI boss Julian David adds: "We can always use more staff."
Norris has agreed to consider investigating poor communication links between police and Licensing Authorities: details of successful prosecutions are not always passed on to the LAs."This is something we are prepared to look at," he says. "We want to make sure that when the LAs consider an application they do have on file a comprehensive record of how that operator behaves."
C See News Analysis, page 12.