UK Offence Report

Criminal offence

regulation 110 of The Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

110 Any failure by the supplier to supply relevant information to the requirer as, when and how required under this Part shall be an offence under section 107 of the Administration Act and there may be recovered from the supplier, on summary conviction for this offence, penalties not exceeding—

a for any one offence, level

3 on the standard scale; or

b for an offence of continuing any such failure after conviction, £40 for each day on which it is so continued.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a supplier
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a supplier meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 110?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

in Northern Ireland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (Fines and Penalties (NI) Order 1984 art.5(3)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
12 October 2006
In force from
20 November 2006
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations consolidate existing provisions relating to housing benefit for claimants who have not attained the qualifying age for state pension credit and for those who have attained that age and are receiving, or whose partner is receiving, income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance. In the case of a woman the qualifying age for state pension credit is pensionable age and in the case of a man it is the age which is pensionable age in the case of a woman born on the same day as the man (section 1(6) of the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002). Provisions relating to those claimants who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit other than those who are, or whose partner is, receiving income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance are contained in the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. Part I of the Regulations contains general provisions. These Regulations are to be read, where appropriate, with the Housing Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (“the Consequential Provisions Regulations”). Part II makes provision in relation to the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home and is or is not to be treated as liable to make payments for a dwelling. Part III specifies those payments by way of rent or rates which are to be eligible for the payment of housing benefit and for decisions by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in rent allowance cases. Part IV specifies the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as responsible for another person and who is to be treated as a member of the same household as a claimant for housing benefit. Part V and Schedule 4 provide for the calculation of the applicable amount in respect of a person’s entitlement to housing benefit, by reference to which the amount of his benefit is calculated. Provision is made with respect to polygamous marriages. Part VI provides for the calculation of the income and capital of a claimant for housing benefit, the earnings of employed and self-employed earners, the treatment of income other than earnings including notional income, with the sums to be disregarded set out in Schedules 5 and 6. Calculation of capital is also dealt with, with capital to be disregarded set out in Schedule 7. Part VII provides for the treatment of students, their entitlement to housing benefit and the calculation of their income. Part VIII provides for the maximum amount of housing benefit payable and for the housing benefit taper, extended payments and non-dependant deductions. Part IX contains provisions as to when housing benefit is to begin, together with provisions relating to change of circumstances and the date those changes take effect. Part X provides for the making, amendment and withdrawal of claims, the evidence and information required in connection with claims and the duty to notify changes of circumstances. Part XI provides for the determination of questions arising on claims and the notification of decisions by authorities. Part XII provides for the payment of housing benefit, including to whom payments are to be made and the withholding of benefit. Part XIII provides for the recovery of overpaid housing benefit, what constitutes a recoverable overpayment and the method of recovery. Part XIV provides that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive may require certain landlords and their agents to supply relevant information . These Regulations are to be read, where appropriate, with the Consequential Provisions Regulations, which revoke the Regulations consolidated by these Regulations. The Regulations are made for the purpose only of consolidating other regulations revoked by them and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 9 of Schedule 5 to, the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.88.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.88 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source