UK Offence Report

Interpretation

regulation 2 of The Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

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

“offence relating to

a reduction in rates” means— any criminal offence in connection with the making of an application for

a reduction under

a rate relief scheme; any criminal offence in connection with the award of

a reduction under

a rate relief scheme; any criminal offence committed for the purpose of facilitating the commission (whether or not by the same person) of an offence of

a kind referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); or any attempt or conspiracy to commit an offence of

a kind referred to in paragraph (a) or (b);

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 person 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 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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
22 February 2016
In force from
4 April 2016
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 prescribe the extent of information-sharing which is permitted under Articles 120 to 123 of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (“the 2015 Order”). Part 1 contains general provisions, including interpretation. Part 2 contains provisions made under powers contained in Article 120 of the 2015 Order (information-sharing in relation to provision of overnight care etc.). Article 120 applies where a relevant body holds certain information, including information as to the provision of overnight care services to an individual, the date when such provision begins or ends or any other information relating to the service provided and how it is funded which may be prescribed in regulations. Regulation 3 prescribes certain categories of information relating to the funding of such overnight care services for these purposes. Article 120 also enables the relevant body to supply such information to certain persons including the Department for Social Development, the Department of Finance and Personnel and the Housing Executive (and certain persons providing services or exercising functions on their behalf), for purposes relating to the payment of a “relevant benefit”. This is defined in Article 120(7) to include universal credit, housing benefit or any prescribed benefit. Regulation 4 prescribes certain other benefits. Part 3 contains provisions made under powers contained in Articles 121 to 123 of the 2015 Order (information-sharing in relation to welfare services etc.) relating to welfare services: Article 121(1) allows the Department (or a person providing services to the Department) to supply relevant information relating to certain social security benefits or welfare services (defined in Article 121(7)) to a “qualifying person”. Regulation 5 prescribes the purposes for which such information may be supplied; Article 121(3) allows a qualifying person who holds information of this kind for a prescribed purpose relating to welfare services, housing benefit or rates to use that information, or supply it to another qualifying person for use in relation to a prescribed purpose. Regulation 6 prescribes the purposes for which relevant information must be held by a qualifying person in order for them to use or supply it for purposes prescribed in regulations 7 and 8. Regulation 7 prescribes purposes for which a qualifying person may use or supply relevant information, including discharging homelessness functions and the application of certain housing benefit provisions. Regulation 8 concerns the use and supply of information by a qualifying person for purposes connected to regulations relating to the under-occupation of a dwelling or the benefit cap. Where information is held by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety or by a person providing services to them for the purpose of determining eligibility for assistance under the Healthy Start Scheme, Regulation 9 allows for that information to be used by them or shared between them, but only for purposes connected with the Healthy Start Scheme and where any such service provider is providing services to that Department relating to the Healthy Start Scheme. Where relevant information is held for the purpose of determining eligibility for assistance under discretionary support provision, Regulation 10 allows for such information held by certain qualifying persons (including the Housing Executive, the Department for Social Development and any person providing services to them or exercising functions for them relating to discretionary support provision) to be used by and shared between them for purposes connected with discretionary support provision. Article 121(7) defines “qualifying person”. Regulation 11 prescribes that, in addition, certain other persons are also to be treated as qualifying persons for certain purposes. This includes a registered housing association, which is to be treated as a qualifying person for the limited purpose of identifying and assisting housing benefit claimants who are or may be affected by regulations relating to the under-occupation of a dwelling or the benefit cap. It also includes the Department of Social Development, which is to be treated as a qualifying person for the purpose of determining eligibility for assistance under discretionary support provision, as is any person providing services to the Department or exercising functions for the Department relating to discretionary support provision. With some limited exceptions, regulation 11 also applies the unlawful disclosure of information provisions of Article 122 to those listed as qualifying persons in paragraph 11(1). Part 4 contains provisions made under powers contained in Articles 121 to 123 of the 2015 Order (information-sharing in relation to welfare services etc.) relating to rates. Regulations 12 to 14 prescribe the purposes for which relevant information relating to rates and rate relief schemes may be held by, used by or supplied to qualifying persons. Part 5 contains provisions made under powers contained in Article 121(2) of the 2015 Order (information-sharing in relation to welfare services etc.). Regulation 15 prescribes purposes relating to welfare services for which relevant information must be held by a qualifying person in order for it to be supplied to the Department or another person providing services for them. Regulation 16 prescribes purposes relating to a relevant social security benefit (as defined in Article 121(8) of the 2015 Order) for which such information may be supplied. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no negative impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen.

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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits 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