UK Offence Report

False representations for obtaining relief

regulation 49(2) of The Rate Relief (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

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

2 A person shall be guilty of an offence if—

a there has been

a change of circumstances affecting any entitlement of his to rate relief under any provision of the principal Order;

b the change is not

a change that is required to be notified;

c he knows that the change affects an entitlement of his to such rate relief; and

d he fails to give

a prompt notification of that change in the prescribed manner to the prescribed person.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 person
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knows that).

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knows that.

What would breach regulation 49(2)?

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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Rate Relief (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
6 months

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
23 March 2007
In force from
1 April 2007
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 provide for rate relief 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 Rate Relief (Qualifying Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007. These Regulations, in the main, modify the Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. 2006 No. 405) (“the Housing Benefit Regulations”) for the purposes only of rate relief. Part 1 of the Regulations contains general provisions, modification of regulations 3 to 6 of the Housing Benefit Regulations and arrangements for rate relief. Part 2 makes provision as to entitlement to and exclusion from rate relief. It contains modifications which makes provision in relation to the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a hereditament as his home and is or is not to be treated as liable to make payments for a hereditament. It also contains modifications of Part II of the Housing Benefit Regulations, the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (1999 c. 33) and the Social Security (Immigration and Asylum) Consequential Amendments Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 (S.R. 2000 No. 71). Part 3 modifies Part III of the Housing Benefit Regulations to specify those payments by way of rates which are to be eligible for the payment of rate relief. Part 4 modifies sections 133(1) and 138 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (1992 c. 7) (“the Act”) and Part IV of the Housing Benefit Regulations to specify 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 rate relief. Part 5 modifies Part V of and Schedule 4 to the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide for the calculation of the applicable amount in respect of a person’s entitlement to rate relief, by reference to which the amount of his relief is calculated. Provision is made with respect to polygamous marriages. Part 6 modifies section 132(1) of the Act and Part VI of and Schedules 5, 6 and 7 to the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide for the calculation of the income and capital of a claimant for rate relief, the earnings of employed and self-employed earners and the treatment of income other than earnings including notional income. It also provides for the calculation of a notional amount of housing benefit where a person has not claimed that benefit. Calculation of capital is also dealt with. Part 7 modifies Part VII of the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide for the treatment of students, their entitlement to rate relief and the calculation of their income. Part 8 modifies Part VIII of and Schedules 8 and 9 to the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide for the maximum amount of rate relief payable, extended payments and non-dependant deductions. Part 9 modifies Part IX of the Housing Benefit Regulations. It provides, by the use of a formula, for the calculation of the weekly amount of rate relief and contains provisions as to when rate relief is to begin, together with provisions relating to change of circumstances and the date those changes take effect. Part 10 modifies Part X of the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide 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. It also provides for the treatment of claims made prior to 1 April 2007 and for payment of rate relief to be dependent on a claim being made. Part 11 modifies Part XI of the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide for the determination of questions arising on claims and the notification of decisions by authorities. Part 12 modifies Part XII of the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide for the payment of rate relief, including to whom payments are to be made and the withholding of rate relief. Part 13 modifies section 73(1), (2), (3)(a) and (b) and (7) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (1992 c. 8) and Part XIII of the Housing Benefit Regulations to provide for the recovery of overpaid rate relief, what constitutes a recoverable overpayment and the method of recovery. It also provides for sums recovered to be paid into the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland. Part 14 provides for the supply, sharing and unauthorised disclosure of information which relates to any matter relating to rate relief for fraud prevention and verification. Part 15 provides the appeals procedure for rate relief. It modifies Schedule 7 to the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 (2000 c. 4 (N.I.)), Chapters II to V of Part V of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 162), the Social Security Commissioners (Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 225) and the Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (S.R. 2001 No. 213) for the purposes of these Regulations. Part 16 contains provisions relating to enforcement purposes in relation to matters connected with rate relief, including authorisations, the provision of information, delay or obstruction of inspectors, false representations, breach of regulations, penalties as alternatives to prosecution, notices and legal proceedings. Part 17 contains provisions relating to finance, persons to report on administration and their powers of investigation, reports about the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (“the Executive”), directions by the Department of Finance and Personnel (“the Department”), information about, notice on and the making of a determination on the attainment of standards attained by the Executive and the role of auditors of the Northern Ireland Audit Office in relation to rate relief. Part 18 contains provisions relating to payment of travelling expenses by the Department.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same 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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 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