Treasury's £15m camera surplus

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The Treasury took more than £15m from the fines paid by drivers caught by speed cameras in England and Wales in 2005/2006, the government has admitted.

Government spokesman in the House of Lords, Lord Bassam, said receipts from fines totalled more than £114.6m.

Some £99.5m of that was "directly attributed to the prevention, detection and enforcement of offences", he added. The surplus was handed to the Treasury.

He insisted the "sole purpose of speed cameras is casualty reduction".

Conservative former minister Lord Trefgarne said: "What contribution will all this have to the maintenance of road safety?

"Do you think this money is usefully spent in that regard?"

Lord Bassam insisted speed cameras "were not cash-driven".

"In the National Safety Camera Evaluation Report, based on four years' experience and published in December 2005, they found a 42% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured at camera sites across the 38 partnership areas [in England and Wales]," he added.

"That means about 1,745 fewer people killed or seriously injured per annum, including 100 fewer deaths."