Accredited official statistics

Police powers and procedures: Roads policing, to December 2023

Published 6 December 2024

Applies to England and Wales

1. Overview of Police powers and procedures statistical bulletins

This year the ‘Police powers and procedures: Other PACE’ statistical bulletin was split into 2 separate releases. The motoring offences and breath tests collections have been separated out to form the ‘Police Powers and Procedures: Roads policing’ series, presented in this bulletin. Police custody and pre-charge bail will be published in early 2025 as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures: Police custody and pre-charge bail’ series. The ‘Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions’ bulletin makes up the third bulletin of the Police Powers and Procedures series. The latest available data was published in September 2024.

This release contains statistics in England and Wales for the year ending 31 December 2023 on fixed penalty notices and other outcomes for motoring offences (see section 2) and roadside breath tests (see section 3).

1.1 Main findings

Motoring offences

In the year ending December 2023, excluding the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and 474,323 cancelled cases:

• there were 2,698,373, motoring offences recorded which resulted in a fixed penalty notice (FPN) or another outcome, an increase of 11% compared with the previous year (2,437,451), and the highest recorded since comparable records began in 2011

• over four-fifths (86%) of recorded motoring offences were for speed limit offences (2,324,542), up 10% on the previous year (2,114,946) and the highest recorded since 2011

• half (51%) of driving offences resulted in driver retraining, while a fine was paid in a further 36% of cases and 13% of cases involved court action (excluding those subsequently cancelled), similar proportions to 2022

Excluding 375,352 cancelled cases, the MPS recorded 498,408 motoring offences resulting in an FPN or other outcome in 2023, a 1% decrease from the previous year (502,245).

Breath tests

• in the year ending December 2023 there were 276,914 breath tests carried out by police, a 3% increase compared with the year ending December 2022 (when comparing data for the 40 forces who were able to provide comparable data in both years)

• as in previous years, more breath tests were undertaken in December than any other month, coinciding with police drink and drug driving campaigns

• 16% of breath tests were positive or refused, down slightly from 17% in the year ending December 2022

2. Fixed penalty notices and other outcomes for motoring offences

Data on FPNs and other outcomes for motoring offences is provided by the national fixed penalty processing system (PentiP) for 43 police forces in England and Wales (excluding the British Transport Police (BTP)), on a calendar-year basis. Data in this section has been assigned as Accredited Official Statistics (previously National Statistics), and contains information on the number of:

• endorsable and non-endorsable FPNs issued for a range of motoring offences
• FPNs issued as a result of camera-detected offences
• cases where the penalty was paid
• motoring offences that resulted in a driver retraining course, or court action

An FPN is a financial penalty which may be issued to a motorist as an alternative to prosecution. They can be issued for a limited range of motoring offences, such as speeding offences and using a handheld mobile phone while driving. An FPN can be endorsable (accompanied by points on a driving licence) or non-endorsable (not accompanied by points on a driving licence).

2.1 Data collection and scope

Data in this section is taken from the PentiP system, a central database, which replaced the Vehicle Procedures and Fixed Penalty Office system in 2011. Vehicle Procedures and Fixed Penalty Office data was previously supplied to the Home Office by individual police forces. Further information can be found in the user guide.

In 2020, the MPS adopted a new system for recording FPNs for camera-detected motoring offences. As MPS no longer exclusively use the PentiP system, the data collected from the MPS is recorded under different categories and is not directly comparable to other forces’ data. For 2021 an interim solution was found to incorporate the MPS data into the national figures; however, following further data quality assurance of the 2022 data it was decided that the MPS data should remain separate. For this reason, headline analysis in this chapter excludes the MPS. However, data provided by the MPS from their new FPN system (Dome) and from the PentiP system is reported separately in section 2.6. The Home Office is working with the MPS to obtain fully comparable data.

In 2017 the Home Office increased data collections for motoring offences to include cases where a driver retraining course, such as a speed awareness course, was attended by the individual, as well as cases where an individual faced court action. A full time-series back to 2011 including these additional outcomes was published.

However, information on the outcome of those summoned to court is not provided and therefore data does not contain the number of individuals prosecuted for motoring offences^{[footnote 1]}.

Since PentiP is a live administrative database used by police forces, data for previous years can be amended as case details are updated. The information presented in this release is based on an extract taken from the PentiP system as at 8 November 2024. The MPS Dome data was provided to the Home Office on 3 October 2024.

Incomplete and cancelled FPNs

During the COVID-19 pandemic several forces reported suffering staff shortages and a backlog in cases that required finalising. Additionally, some forces have reported that increased enforcement initiatives coupled with limited court capacity has resulted in some low priority offences being unable to progress to court within 6 months (the statute of limitations period, Limitation Act 1980).

As such, the number of motoring offences that are currently recorded as having an outcome of ‘incomplete’ in England and Wales (excluding the MPS), that is, not assigned an outcome, is higher than pre-pandemic levels. But these cases only comprise a small proportion of all motoring offences (0.3% or 7,532 cases in 2023 compared with 0.1% or 3,331 cases in 2019).

The number of FPNs being assigned a ‘cancelled’ status has therefore also increased in recent years. In 2023 for England and Wales (excluding the MPS) there were 474,323 cancelled FPNs, a 17% increase from the previous year (406,683) and a 55% increase compared with 2019 (306,749).

The MPS has also seen very large increases in the number of cancelled FPNs in recent years. In the latest year there was a 52% increase, up from 246,163 in 2022 to 375,352 in 2023^{[footnote 2]} (accounting for 43% of all issued FPNs). The number of cancelled FPNs in the latest year is almost 5 times the number recorded pre-pandemic (77,010). Including cancelled FPNs in the MPS’ total for the year ending 2023 shows an increase (17%) in enforcement levels compared with 2022, this in part due to the Vision Zero action plan to reduce harm on London’s roads. The MPS continues to monitor case outcomes. See section 2.6 for more detail on trends in motoring offences for the MPS and table FPN_01b of the motoring offences data tables.

It is expected that the count and outcomes of some motoring offences will be updated in subsequent publications.

The analysis in this chapter contains data on the outcomes for motoring offences (as recorded on the PentiP system) for the territorial Police Force Areas (PFAs) in England and Wales on a calendar-year basis. Data is broken down by the number of motoring offences:

• that resulted in an FPN (endorsable and non-endorsable)
• where the driver attended a driver retraining course
• that resulted in court action
• where a FPN is cancelled

The data also contains information on the types of motoring offences which led to these outcomes, whether or not the offence was camera-detected, whether or not a fine was paid (where the offence resulted in an FPN) and the month in which the offence occurred (from 2020 onwards).

The Home Office is aware that not all forces will exclusively use the PentiP system to record motoring offences. For example, several police forces including Durham, North Wales, South Wales, Gwent, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire do not record all outcomes of motoring offences on the PentiP system. Therefore, it is likely that the data published is not a complete record of all motoring offences that occur in England and Wales and is potentially an undercount.

The data does not contain offences for driving under the influence, or dangerous driving. Statistics on drink and drug driving can be found in the ‘Road Accident and Safety Statistics’ published by the Department for Transport. Dangerous driving is a notifiable offence and is therefore included in the ONS ‘Crime in England and Wales’ statistics.

Data on FPNs and other outcomes for motoring offences in England and Wales are also available in the accompanying motoring offences data tables.

Further information, including information on data quality, can be found in the user guide.

2.2 Trends in FPNs and other outcomes of motoring offences

Excluding cancelled cases^{[footnote 3]} (474,323 cases) and cases recorded by the MPS, the PentiP system recorded 2,698,373 motoring offences in 2023, which resulted in an FPN or another outcome. This is the highest recorded since 2011.

There have been increases in each year following the pandemic, the number of motoring offences recorded in the year ending December 2023 is an increase of 11% compared with 2022 and 2021, and an 12% increase from 2019 (pre-pandemic levels). The year of 2020 saw a decrease in the number of motoring offences recorded, likely due to reduced traffic volumes during the COVID-19 restrictions.

In the year ending December 2023:

• 868,743 cases resulted in the driver receiving an endorsable FPN (32%)
• 107,336 cases resulted in a non-endorsable FPN (4%)
• an individual attended a driver retraining course in 1,370,612 cases (51%)
• 351,682 cases resulted in court action (13%)

The number of endorsable FPNs declined sharply between 2012 and 2013, corresponding with a large increase in driver retraining outcomes. The number of endorsable FPNs issued remained stable between 2014 and 2019 but following a decline in 2020 (to 765,346 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period in which road usage fell) the data has shown small fluctuations, with the latest year however showing a larger increase of 9% (to 868,743).

The number of non-endorsable FPNs had fallen year-on-year from 2011 to 2018, but increased in 2019 (to 98,321). With the exception of a fall in 2020 (likely due to the pandemic), the number of non-endorsable FPNs has remained fairly stable since 2019 until the latest year in 2023 in which there was an increase of 10% to 107,336 as shown in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Number of motoring offences resulting in an endorsable or non-endorsable FPN, England and Wales (excluding MPS and BTP), 2011 to 2023

Source: FPNs and other outcomes for motoring offences data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, FPN_01, Home Office

Notes:

1. Does not include FPNs which were subsequently cancelled.
2. Does not include motoring offences which were dealt with via other outcomes such as cases where the individual attended a driver retraining course or faced court action.
3. Does not include BTP and MPS.

2.3 FPNs and other outcomes by offence type

Over four-fifths (86%) of the motoring offences recorded on PentiP were for speed limit offences (2,324,542), which were up 10% compared with the year ending December 2022 (when there were 2,114,946 offences) and it was the highest number of speed limit offences recorded since 2011. Between 2011 and 2023, the number of speed limit offences increased at a faster rate than the amount of road traffic in Great Britain. Since 2011, the only noteworthy year-on-year decline in speeding offences was in 2020, likely due to the pandemic (Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2: Number of speed limit offences recorded on the PentiP system, England and Wales (excluding MPS and BTP), 2011 to 2023

Source: FPNs and other outcomes for motoring offences data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, FPN_02, Home Office

Notes:

1. Does not include FPNs which were subsequently cancelled.
2. Includes cases where the individual attended a driver retraining course or faced court action.
3. Does not include BTP and MPS.

Following the reported reduction in traffic volumes due to the pandemic in 2020, the majority of offences showed an increase in detection in 2021. Following a more mixed picture in 2022 where there were decreases in some offence types, the latest year saw an increase in all offence types, most offence types showed increases in 2023, apart from ‘miscellaneous motoring offences’ (a 14% decrease) and ‘work record or employment offences’ (an 11% decrease) (see Table 2.1 below).

As well as the notable increase recorded for speed limit offences (up 209,596 or 10%), offences of ‘use of hand-held mobile phones’ (up 9,066 or 33%), and ‘neglect of traffic signs and direction and pedestrian rights’ (18,693 or 23%) also saw large volume increases.

Table 2.1: Number of motoring offences resulting in fixed penalty notices, driver retraining, or court action by offence type, England and Wales (excluding MPS), 2023 compared with 2022

Offence Description	2022	2023	Number change	Percentage change
Speed limit offences	2,114,946	2,324,542	209,596	10%
Neglect of traffic signs and directions and of pedestrian rights	79,912	98,605	18,693	23%
Licence, insurance and record-keeping offences	72,592	80,347	7,755	11%
Seat belt offences	40,479	42,227	1,748	4%
Careless driving offences (excluding use of handheld mobile phone while driving)	34,315	40,536	6,221	18%
Vehicle test and condition offences	36,315	39,876	3,561	10%
Use of handheld mobile phone while driving	27,776	36,842	9,066	33%
Obstruction, waiting and parking offences	11,509	14,189	2,680	23%
Other offences	11,266	12,413	1,147	10%
Lighting and noise offences	5,088	5,890	802	16%
Work record or employment offences	2,642	2,361	-281	-11%
Miscellaneous motoring offences (excluding seat belt offences)	576	496	-80	-14%
Operator’s licence offences	35	49	14	[z]
Total	2,437,451	2,698,373	260,922	11%

Source: FPNs and other outcomes for motoring offences data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, FPN_02, Home Office

Notes:

1. Does not include FPNs which were subsequently cancelled.
2. Includes offences where an FPN was issued or the individual attended driver retraining or court action.
3. Does not include BTP and MPS.
4. The ‘other offences’ offence grouping includes load offences and offences peculiar to motor cycles.
5. [z] denotes that the base is lower than 50 therefore a percentage change is not applicable.

Since 2020 the Home Office has collected a monthly breakdown of motoring offences to allow analysis of trends within a calendar year. It is important to note however that monthly changes may reflect changes in operational activity and reporting effects, such as bulk uploads of offences.

In 2022, there was a large increase in the number of ‘use of a mobile phone while driving’ offences from March through to autumn, following a change in the law on using a mobile phone while driving, as shown in Figure 2.3. The winter months of 2022 then saw a decline before another steep rise during the first few months of 2023, peaking at 4,032 in March 2023 (over 2 times the number recorded in March 2022, 1,852, when the law was amended). This peak was followed by small variations and since May 2023 there has been a steady decline in the number of FPNs issued for this offence each month.

Figure 2.3 Trends in use of mobile phone offences during the last 2 years, England and Wales (excluding MPS and BTP)

Source: FPNs and other outcomes for motoring offences data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, FPN_05, Home Office

Notes:

1. Does not include FPNs which were subsequently cancelled.
2. Includes offences where an FPN was issued or the individual attended driver retraining or court action.
3. Does not include BTP and MPS.

There was also some slight seasonal variation throughout the year ending December 2023 for other offences. For example, a higher number of speed limit offences were recorded in the summer, with a peak in June 2023 of 223,039 cases, compared with the winter months, with the lowest number of speed limit offences recorded in December 2023 (159,179), monthly traffic distributions also indicate that there are fewer vehicles on the road in winter months.

The number of seatbelt offences saw a spike in June 2023, over double the average of the rest of the year at 7,530. This is likely related to the proactive policing operations mentioned earlier.

2.4 Camera-detected offences

Offences that come under ‘neglect of traffic directions’ (for example, failure to adhere to traffic signs such as ‘right of way’^{[footnote 4]} ) and ‘speed limit offences’ may be detected by the police, or by traffic enforcement cameras. In 2023, the PentiP system (excluding the MPS) recorded 2,324,542 ‘speed limit offences’ and 88,765 ‘neglect of traffic directions’ offences, 86% and 3% of all non-cancelled FPNs respectively. The majority of ‘speed limit offences’ (98%) were detected by a camera, a similar proportion to 2022 and pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, close to two-thirds (67%) of ‘neglect of traffic direction’ offences were detected by a camera, an increase from 65% in 2022 and 59% in 2021.

2.5 Outcomes following motoring offences

After an individual is found to have committed a motoring offence there are a number of possible outcomes:

• attend a driver retraining course
• receive an FPN and pay a fine
• court action which may lead to prosecution

In 2023 there was an increase of 13% in the number of people attending a driver retraining course as an alternative outcome to paying a fine, from 1,214,774 in 2022 to 1,370,612 in 2023, the highest number of people attending driver retraining courses since comparative records began in 2011. In 2011, 14% of individuals found to have committed a motoring offence (not including cases which were then cancelled) attended a driver retraining course. This proportion showed a large increase between 2011 and 2014 to 46% and has since shown small increases, with 51% of individuals having attended a driver retraining course in 2023. The initial increase between 2011 and 2014 can be attributed to an increase in the number of police forces joining NDORS^{[footnote 5]}, which was set up in 2010 as an alternative to prosecution, and therefore increasing the recorded data available on the PentiP system.

The use of driver retraining courses is at the discretion of the police and the use of such courses can differ by PFA. An individual can only attend a driver retraining course once in a 3-year period for committing the same offence. Therefore, if the individual reoffends and commits the same offence within a 3-year period, having previously attended a driver retraining course, they cannot attend again and will be subject to other sanctions. In light of the COVID-19 restrictions, virtual (online) courses were offered for driver retraining as a replacement for physical attendance. Several PFAs still offer online courses in virtual classrooms as alternatives to in-person attendance and may allow for a greater number of persons to attend courses.

In 2023, a fine was paid in over a third (36%) of cases (excluding those subsequently cancelled) and 13% of cases involved court action, similar proportions to 2022. A very small proportion (less than 1%) of cases are awaiting payment (‘fine registered’) or awaiting action from the police (‘incomplete’). These statistics do not provide the outcome of those summoned to court.

The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly statistics on court outcomes including the number of individuals successfully prosecuted for motoring offences.

2.6 Metropolitan Police Service

In 2020, the MPS stopped processing some camera-detected Fixed Penalty Notices for motoring offences within the PentiP system. As such, the Home Office received partial 2020 data from PentiP for the MPS and an additional data return from the MPS’ new system (Dome). The MPS have continued to provide a separate return since 2020.

This system change is likely to affect the total number of FPNs and the way in which outcomes are recorded (especially cancelled FPNs). Some motoring offences will be recorded on both PentiP and Dome; whilst an effort has been made to remove any duplicated offences from the combined data set, some duplication may still occur. Furthermore, some categories may differ between the PentiP and Dome systems.

This section therefore presents the MPS data separately from the rest of England and Wales and represents a combination of the MPS data from the Dome system and data from the PentiP system. The Home Office is working with the MPS to better understand data recorded outside of Pentip to obtain a fully comparable set of data for future publications.

In 2023, excluding cancelled cases (375,352), the MPS reported 498,408 motoring offences which resulted in an FPN or another outcome by the MPS. This was a decrease (-1%) compared with the previous year (502,245), although still higher than previous years; prior to this year there had been a year-on-year increase for the force since 2014 (Figure 2.4). However, the long-term change should be interpreted with caution, due to the system change.

Figure 2.4 Number of cases resulting in FPNs or other outcomes, MPS, 2011 to 2023

Source: FPNs and other outcomes for motoring offences data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, FPN_01b, Home Office

Notes:

1. Includes offences where an FPN was issued or the individual attended driver retraining or court action. Excludes FPNs which were subsequently cancelled.
2. Data from 2020 is not comparable to previous years as it includes data from the MPS own recording system.

Looking at the MPS data by offence type, close to four-fifths (78%) of motoring offences recorded were for speed limit offences (390,403), a lower proportion of the total than the rest of England and Wales (86% of motoring offences). The number of speed limit offences recorded by the MPS increased by 3% in 2023, from 380,638 to 390,403, and is now close to 3 times higher than the number of offences recorded before the pandemic (138,447). This may be in-part due to the Vision Zero action plan, in which the MPS and Transport for London are seeking to reduce harm on London’s roads by 2041, through different initiatives such as the introduction of lower speed limits.

‘Neglect of traffic signs and directions and of pedestrian rights’ also showed an increase, up 11% from 39,707 offences up to 43,914 offences.

Aside from ‘miscellaneous motoring offences’, which saw a very small volume increase (up by 6 to 37 offences), all other offence types saw a decrease, with licence, insurance and record keeping offences showing the largest fall (down 7,898 or 27%).

Although offences of ‘use of a handheld mobile phone while driving’ showed a decrease in the latest year (-13%) the volume recorded in 2023 (8,796) was still higher compared with pre-pandemic levels (4,853 in 2019).

Looking at the MPS data by outcome, in 2023 163,579 cases resulted in a driver receiving an FPN (33% of the overall cases, excluding cancelled FPN’s). An individual attended a driver retraining course in 271,241 cases (54%) and 63,588 cases resulted in court action (13%).

2.7 Other data sources

Ministry of Justice publishes data in its Criminal justice statistics quarterly publication on:

• penalty notices for disorder (PNDs); these follow similar principles to FPNs and can be issued for low-level summary offences, for example, being drunk and disorderly, petty theft, and possession of cannabis prosecutions and convictions for motoring offences

The Department for Transport (DfT) publishes a number of Road accident and safety statistics including data on:

• road casualties
• drink and drug driving
• self-reported mobile phone use while driving

3. Breath tests

Breath tests statistics included in this chapter are designated as Accredited Official Statistics (previously known as National Statistics).

In the year ending December 2023, across all 43 territorial police forces, there were 276,914 breath tests carried out by police.

There was a 3% increase compared with the year ending December 2022 (when comparing data for the 40 forces who were able to provide comparable data in both years).

As in previous years, more breath tests were undertaken in December than any other month, coinciding with police drink and drug driving campaigns.

Sixteen per cent of breath tests were positive or refused, down slightly from 17% in the year ending December 2022.

3.1 Data collection and scope

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, police may conduct a breath test at the roadside to determine whether motorists are driving with alcohol in their body, beyond the legal limit. This section includes data on the number of breath tests carried out by police in England and Wales (excluding BTP). It presents data on a calendar-year basis up to and including 2023.

The data show the number of:

• breath tests carried out by police in England and Wales
• positive or refused breath tests
• breath tests conducted per 1,000 population in each police force across England and Wales

Further details relating to definitions, legislation and procedure are given in the user guide.

3.2 Trends in breath tests

Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Hertfordshire Constabulary have been excluded from year-on-year comparisons in this chapter, as both police forces stated that their 2023 data is not comparable with the previous year. More detail on this is provided in the data quality section.

The Metropolitan Police were not able to provide data on the total number of breath tests between January 2017 and June 2022. Therefore, they are not included in the year-on-year comparisons presented in this chapter. Data has been provided by the Metropolitan Police for each month of 2023; however, the force noted that a software issue caused some data to be lost and could not be recovered. Therefore, the reported numbers are an undercount and should be interpreted with caution.

The data provided by Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and the Metropolitan Police are included in table BT_01 of the breath tests summary tables. These tables also contain a full list of caveats for the breath tests data series, from 2002 to 2023.

Across all 43 territorial police forces, there were a total of 276,914 breath tests undertaken in 2023. When comparing the 40 forces that provided comparable breath test data in both 2022 and 2023, there was a 3% increase compared with the previous year (from 253,266 in 2022 to 259,615 in 2023).

Figure 3.1 shows that, although the volume of in breath tests in 2023 is higher than it was in 2020 and 2021 (years that were affected by pandemic restrictions), the volume remains well below the peak of 647,380 breath tests in 2009 (not including the forces who could not provide complete breath tests data for each year between 2002 and 2023).

Figure 3.1 Number of breath tests carried out by police in England and Wales, 2002 to 2023

Source: Breath tests data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, BT.03, Home Office

Note:

1. Does not include Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Metropolitan, Norfolk, Suffolk and Sussex Police, who could not supply complete data for all years.

In 2023, there were 44,861 positive or refused breath tests across all 43 territorial police forces. Based on the 40 forces who supplied comparable data for both 2022 and 2023, there was an 1% decrease in the number of positive or refused breath tests in 2023 (from 41,687 to 41,230).

The number of positive or refused breath tests in 2023 represents 16% of the total number of breath tests, down slightly from 17% in the 3 years from 2020 to 2022. The proportion of breath tests that were positive or refused gradually fell from 19% in 2003 to 10% in 2013. Between 2014 and 2020 there was a gradual increase in the proportion of breath tests that were positive or refused, before levelling out at 16% to 17% in the last 5 years.

Figure 3.2 Proportion of positive or refused breath tests carried out by police in England and Wales, 2002 to 2023

Source: Breath tests data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, BT.03, Home Office

Note:

1. Does not include Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Metropolitan, Norfolk, Suffolk and Sussex Police, who could not supply complete data for all years.

3.3 Seasonal variation

Comparisons between 2022 and 2023 in this section do not include data for Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire Constabulary and the Metropolitan Police, as these forces were unable to provide consistent data for 2022 and 2023.

In 2023, as in previous years, more breath tests were carried out in December than any other month (49,243), accounting for 18% of the total number of breath tests in 2023. This coincided with the annual national Christmas drink and drug driving campaign. However, December 2023 had the lowest proportion of tests that were positive or refused (10%). February had the lowest number of breath tests (17,921) in 2023.

The volume of breath tests by month in 2023 was largely similar to 2022. The 3 main exceptions to this were November 2023, in which 18% fewer breath tests were carried out than November 2022, and August and December 2023 in which 8% more breath tests were carried out than the corresponding months in 2022.

Figure 3.3 Number of breath tests carried out by police in England and Wales, by month, 2022 and 2023

Source: Breath tests data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, BT.04, Home Office

Notes:

1. Does not include Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire Constabulary and Metropolitan Police, who were unable to provide consistent data between 2022 and 2023.
2. Includes estimated data for Surrey Police for November 2022 to February 2023.
3. Includes estimated data for Greater Manchester Police for April to December 2023.

Excluding data from December, in which only 10% of tests were positive or refused, the percentage of tests which were positive or refused varied between 16% and 18% in every other month.

Figure 3.4 Proportion of positive or refused breath tests carried out by police in England and Wales, by month, 2023

Source: Breath tests data tables, year ending 31 December 2023, BT.04, Home Office

Notes:

1. Includes estimated data for Surrey Police in January and February 2023.
2. Includes estimated data for Greater Manchester Police for April to December 2023.

3.4 Geographical patterns

In 2023, 5 breath tests were conducted per 1,000 population^{[footnote 6]} across England and Wales. The rate for Wales (11 per 1,000 population) was greater than that for England (4 per 1,000 population), which has been the same for recent years.

South Wales Police had the highest rate of breath tests per population in England and Wales (15 per 1,000 population). In England, Durham Constabulary had the highest rate with 9 tests per 1,000 population. The proportion of breath tests that were positive or refused ranged from 8% in Essex to 34% in West Yorkshire Police Force Area.

3.5 Data quality and interpreting the figures

Results of breath alcohol screening tests can only show the level of alcohol present in a sample of breath and are not used to determine whether or not a driver was above or below the legal limit to drive. Only at a police station or hospital can specimens be used to determine a person’s actual alcohol concentration, using pre-calibrated evidential devices making sure the sample has not been affected by any interfering substances or that blood or urine specimens may be taken for further laboratory analysis. These are not included in the breath test statistics.

From April 2008, new digital recording equipment is used by forces. The devices can record exact breath alcohol readings and the result of individual tests, as well as reason for test, time of day, day of week and age and gender profiles of those tested, and results are downloaded to data systems on a monthly basis and provided to the DfT.

Data presented here has been sourced from annual statistical returns received from the 43 police forces in England and Wales. By 2011, a large number of police forces in England and Wales had made greater use of the digital breath test devices, in comparison with previous years. However, the manual recording systems are still used by some police forces. The figures presented here are based on the combined results of both systems. Negative breath test data supplied to the Home Office may have been under-reported based on the old system and it is likely that moving to the digital services has led to improvements in data recording practices by forces. This appears to have been reflected in the decrease in the proportion of positive or refused tests of total breath tests, since the beginning of 2008.

In 2023, Cambridgeshire Constabulary stated that submissions prior to 2023 erroneously include breath tests that took place in police custody. Therefore, they have been excluded from the year-on-year changes in this chapter. Additionally, Hertfordshire Constabulary reported an issue whereby not all breath tests undertaken are transferred to the database used for the data return and have also been excluded from year-on-year comparisons.

The user guide provides further details relating to data quality and interpreting the figures.

3.6 Other data sources

Analysis of reported roadside breath alcohol screening tests, based on data from digital breath testing devices, is published by the DfT. Latest figures were included within DfT’s Reported road casualties in Great Britain: 2023 annual report.

1. Ministry of Justice publishes data in its Criminal justice statistics quarterly publication on prosecutions and convictions for motoring offences. ↩

2. A large proportion of the MPS’ incomplete cases were recategorized as cancelled during data processing as advised by the MPS. This is due to many of these cases having gone past the 6-month time frame without any action being taken. ↩

3. Examples of cancelled FPNs include cases where the police were unable to identify the driver of the vehicle, or when the vehicle belonged to the emergency services. ↩

4. Offence classification 818. ↩

5. NDORS (National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme) is a scheme run in England and Wales that has been in place since 2010 whereby drivers who have committed a road traffic offence can be offered a driver retraining course as an alternative to prosecution. ↩

6. Calculated using population estimates for England and Wales: mid-2023 - Population estimates for England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) ↩