UK Offence Report

False statements

regulation 6 of Agricultural Products Processing and Marketing (Improvement Grant) Regulations 1977

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

6 If any person, for the purposes of obtaining for himself or any other person any grant under these regulations, knowingly or recklessly makes

a false statement, he shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding £400.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
making a false or misleading statement
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 (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

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: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 6?

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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Agricultural Products Processing and Marketing (Improvement Grant) Regulations 1977.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£400
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
15 December 1977
In force from
16 December 1977
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 apply throughout the United Kingdom and supplement Regulation (EEC) No. 355/77 of the Council on common measures to improve the conditions under which agricultural products are processed and marketed. The Council Regulation empowers the Commission (subject, in specified circumstances, to the decision of the Council) to grant to projects aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund conditional upon financial contribution by the Member States on the territory of which the projects are to be carried out. Article 6.1 of the Council Regulation in the English edition of the Official Journal defines “project” as:— any project involving public, semi-public or private material investment relating wholly or in part to buildings and/or equipment for: a rationalizing or developing storage, market preparation, preservation, treatment or processing of agricultural products; b improving marketing channels; c better knowledge of the facts relating to prices and to their formation on the markets for agricultural products. To enable United Kingdom projects to receive aid which has been authorised under the Council Regulation, these regulations empower Minister to make grants towards approved expenditure for the purposes of those projects (regulation 3). Where the expenditure approved for Community aid has been approved for the purposes of any other grant out of United Kingdom public funds, only such grant is payable under these regulations as is necessary to enable the project to receive the Community aid. Otherwise the amount of grant under these regulations is restricted to a maximum of 8 per cent. of that expenditure (regulation 4). In specified circumstances, approval of expenditure may be revoked and grant may be recovered (regulation 5). A penalty is prescribed in respect of false statements made to obtain grant (regulation 6).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 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