All Covid fines should be reviewed as the system for awarding them is ‘muddled, discriminatory and unfair’, a parliamentary committee has said.

More than 85,000 fines have been given out in England since the pandemic started, and 8,000 were delivered in Wales. The Joint Committee on Human Rights has now called the validity of the fines into question.

Regulations have changed more than 65 times since March 2020, with fixed penalty fines for breaking the rules ranging between between £200 and £10,000. Those who don’t pay can face criminal prosecution.

The committee’s call for a review comes as more than a quarter of prosecutions for breaching Covid regulations in the first two months of the year were shown to be incorrect.

MPs are also requesting that criminal records resulting from Covid fines should be scrapped, while the incomes of those hit with the largest fines should be assessed. They also want a better system in place for challenging fines.

Committee chair Harriet Harman said the whole process of Covid fines ‘disproportionately hits the less well-off and criminalises the poor’.

She highlighted that those who can afford to pay their fine ‘avoid criminality’, while those who can’t receive a criminal record and ‘consequences for their future development’.

Harman went on: ‘Swift action to make restrictions effective is essential in the face of this terrible virus.

‘But the government needs to ensure that rules are clear, enforcement is fair and that mistakes in the system can be rectified. None of that is the case in respect of Covid-19 fixed penalty notices.’

Harman also warned that a ‘lack of legal clarity’ meant there may have been many wrongly issued fines, and noted that the police had encountered difficulty enforcing the changing rules.

A spokesperson for the Government said: ‘Our police officers have worked tirelessly to keep us safe during the pandemic. They have played a crucial role to protect the public and save lives, always engaging with and encouraging of the vast majority of people trying to do the right thing before if necessary, enforcing the rules.

‘While the majority of the public are continuing to play their part, it is right that those who most flagrantly breach the rules face consequences, which could include a criminal record.

‘Throughout the pandemic, we have maintained a constant dialogue with police forces across the country to help them implement the regulations.’

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