Smoking in cars - 47/18

Date Responded 23 January 2018

Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')

As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.

You asked:

I am writing to request information regarding the enforcement of the ban on smoking in cars where children are present.

Specifically I would like to know:

1. How many individuals have been found to be in breach of this law since its introduction?

2. How many individuals have been fined for being in breach of this law?

3. How many individuals have received warnings for being in breach of this law?

4. Have any individuals received punishments other than being fined or receiving a warning for being in breach of this law?

Please would you break the data down by calendar year.

In Response:

We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I provide a response for your attention.

Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted within Northumbria Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police.

I am able to disclose the located information to you as follows.

1. There have been 3 cases where the offender was Charged.

2. All 3 pleaded guilty and each received a Fine.

3. Nil

4. All 3 had other driving related offences included in the Charges, so one also received 3 points on their Licence, another was Disqualified from Driving and the third is showing as being requested to pay the Victims’ Surcharge and Costs.

Disclaimer

Due to the different methods of recording information across 43 forces, a specific response from one constabulary should not be seen as an indication of what information could be supplied (within cost) by another. Systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. For this reason responses between forces may differ, and should not be used for comparative purposes.

The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual property rights of Northumbria Police. Your use of the information must be strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) or such other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not re-use this information for any commercial purpose.