Miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines 2024
Setting a fine for those on a variable income
The issue
The Council received a suggestion that it would be helpful to include information (in the fines guidance for magistrates’ courts) on how to assess relevant weekly income for those whose income varies from week to week. We sought the views of magistrates’ courts users and noted that they had different experiences of how courts deal with the assessment of means (for example, some use the means form and others do not) but generally they felt that this could be helpful. The current guidance is here.
The Council also considered whether it would be helpful to develop a guideline on the imposition of fines for use in all courts and agreed that this should be added to the work plan.
The proposed change
The Council proposes to add the following to the current fines guidance:
Where an offender’s income varies, the court should take an average of four to six weeks’ income to assess the relevant weekly income.
Where an offender expresses their income in terms of an hourly rate, the court should make enquiries as to how many hours work they typically work each week and, if appropriate, take an average of the last four to six weeks to assess the relevant weekly income.
The impact
This change which relates only to fines will not have an impact on prison or probation resources. Any impact will be to help courts make a more accurate assessment of an offender’s means and consequently set fines at an appropriate level.