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Councils and police to publish speed camera data

DfT to set up central hub for guides to finding information

Local authorities and police forces are to publish figures on the results of installing speed cameras.

Road safety minister Mike Penning said that councils will publish statistics on the numbers of accidents and casualties at camera sites dating back to 1990.

Police forces are to provide details of the number of speeding prosecutions arising from each camera in their area, along with information about whether offenders are fined, complete a speed awareness course or are taken to court.

The relevant authorities will be expected to provide a website address to the Department for Transport (DfT) by 20 July. The department said it will set up a central hub providing links to local websites where the information is published.

The Highways Agency will publish site by site casualty, collision and speed information for permanent fixed camera sites on its network or provide links to where such sites are being included in what local authorities are publishing.

Penning said: "We want to improve accountability and make sure that the public are able to make informed judgements about the decisions made on their behalf. So if taxpayers' money is being spent on speed cameras then it is right that information about their effectiveness is available to the public.

"That is why we want full details of accidents and casualties at camera sites, along with the number of offences arising from each camera, to be easily accessible. This will help to show what impact cameras are having on road safety and also how the police are dealing with offenders."

The move derives from the DfT's acceptance of the report of a working group it set up to advise on the publication of speed camera information.

This article was originally published at Guardian Government Computing.

Guardian Government Computing is a business division of Guardian Professional, and covers the latest news and analysis of public sector technology. For updates on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here.

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