Trainload to split Courts want proof of pay
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for privatisation
• The Government is expected to divide British Rail's Trainload Freight into three regional units in preparation for its forthcoming privatisation. A White Paper is expected soon.
Railfreight Distribution's international business will remain under state control but the future ownership of the Freightliner container business is less clear. II The amount of red tape surrounding drivers in court will increase dramatically this summer as they are forced for the first time to prove their earnings and outgoings if found guilty cf a road traffic offence.
Magistrates say that following new legislation now being rushed through Parliament, drivers found guilty of any offence will automatically have to provide this information.
The new law replaces the discredited earnings-related "unit fines" system under which magistrates only order proof if they have reason to believe a driver is not telling the truth about his disposable income on which the amount of fines are based.
Once the new law is in place, fines for drivers hours, tachograph and overloading offences are unlikely to alter significantly, say magistrates and clerks.
The statement by the Magistrates Association follows speculation that fines for road traffic offences would fall following a review of the Criminal Justice Act which introduced unit fines in October last year (CM 1521 April). However, the Justices Clerks Society says the new system could be kinder to drivers absent from court who have not filled in a statement of income form.