Covid fines 'more likely to be issued in deprived areas of Scotland'

More than one in four fixed penalty notices issued in Scotland for breaches of Covid-19 rules were to people living in deprived areas, a report has shown.People living in the 10% most deprived areas of Scotland were 2.6 times more likely to be handed a fine than those living in the least deprived areas, figures analysed in a report by Professor Susan McVie at the University of Edinburgh show.

At the beginning of the pandemic, people living in deprived areas were 12.6 times more likely to be handed a fine – but this number reduced substantially over time as police dealt with breaches by people from a wider range of social backgrounds as the pandemic progressed.Recipients also tended to be younger, with three quarters of fines being handed to people under the age of 30.

More than 20,000 police fixed penalty notices were registered by the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) during 2020/21 in relation to breaking Covid rules. Read next: Scotland's A&E waiting times ranked as thousands of patients remained longer than eight hours The figures have been analysed in a report titled Police Use of Covid-19 Fixed Penalty Notices in Scotland and will coincide with a roundtable event organised by the Scottish Police Authority to reflect on the oversight of policing during the pandemic in Scotland.The report is one of a series of data reports published by researchers at the University of Edinburgh to examine police use of temporary powers of enforcement issued under the Coronavirus Regulations.

This report analyses quarterly fines data published by the SCTS as well as linked administrative data from Police Scotland and the SCTS.Research also showed fines issued to people for breaching the Covid-19 regulations in Scotland were