From the start the partnerships were controversial with strong opinions both for and against the cameras. In December 2001 new regulations enforced a code of visibility for the cameras in order that they were always clearly seen by motorists. As of April 2006 there were thirty eight safety camera partnerships in England and Wales covering forty-one police force areas out of a total of forty-three (Durham and North Yorkshire are the exceptions). Similar arrangements exist in Scotland and Northern Ireland. As the cameras became more widespread the issue became more contentious politically. In particular motoring bodies began to question the effectiveness of speed cameras as a means for accident prevention. This created a demand for research showing whether or not the cameras were, in practice, effective at reducing deaths and injuries from road accidents. Four independent evaluation reports were commissioned by the DfT to address this. Since April 2007 however, an annual specific (although not ring fenced) 'road safety grant' which was no longer related to the number of penalties issued locally was given directly to the local authorities with a responsibility for road safety who were free to choose whether or not to re-invest this in their partnership. During 2007 a total of 1.26 million fixed penalties were issued, which was down 23% from the previous year.