Penalty Notice Processing

We manage two systems used by the police service and courts to process fixed penalty notices and penalty notices for disorder. We are developing a national system to replace them which will be implemented in England and Wales by the end of 2012/13.

The Vehicle Procedures and Fixed Penalty Office (VP/FPO) is used by 45 forces and courts to process Fixed Penalties Notices (FPN) and Conditional Offer Fixed Penalty Notices (COFPN) issued to drivers and vehicles, and in some cases pedal cyclists, who offend. 

The Northgate Enforcement System (NES) is used by 42 forces and courts to process Penalty Notices for Disorder (PND) or Antisocial Behaviour Notices (ASBN) in Scotland.

The NPIA are responsible for ensuring that the change management process is properly specified, that enhancements meet business needs, that they are fit for purpose and represent best value.

Event Diary

  • 6-7 December 2011 Penalty Notices National User Group Meeting, Stockport
  • March 2012 User Acceptance Testing of PentiP
  • April - July 2012 Business Assurance area sites live with PentiP
  • August 2012 - March 2013 National area deployment to England and Wales

The future is PentiP

Working to an authorised mandate from ACPO, a user requirement was developed to replace the current systems, with a national system - PentiP.

Northgate Information Services won the national contract in July 2009, and are working alongside us to roll out PentiP to all areas in England and Wales by the end of March 2013. PentiP will deliver significantly enhanced functionality and will be used to process:
  • Fixed Penalty Notices for vehicle offences
  • National Driver Offender Retraining Schemes
  • Fixed Penalty Notices for Disorder
  • Home Office Road Traffic forms
  • Vehicle Defect Rectification Notice
  • Verbal Warnings, including cannabis warnings

It will establish a consistent approach to the issuing and management of notices across the country, and will enable:

  • Police officers and courts to select the most suitable disposal option based upon accurate and complete data
  • Users to interrogate and update a central database and a number of databases held by partner organisations to check:
    o the details of a driver/vehicle against PNC
    o whether a driver has been disqualified
    o whether a driver is eligible for a Speed Awareness or Driver Improvement Scheme Course (National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme)
    o whether a person has a previous cannabis warning.
  • On-line payment of fines
  • Electronic endorsement of driving licences
  • The Courts to follow-up unpaid fines more efficiently with the aid of accurate intelligence

Driver Offender Retraining System

The first deliverable of PentiP was the PentiP DORs - Driver Offender Retraining system which has been developed to record details of offenders that are eligible, offered and have accepted a driver retraining course as an alternative to a penalty.

The system replaces a localised interim system and provides a national database to ensure only those eligible to attend a course are identified and receive an offer. It went live nationally on the 29 June 2009 using the Driver Improvement, Speed Awareness and R.I.D.E. elements.