UK Offence Report

Any person who refuses or wilfully neglects to attend in obedience to a notice under paragraph 1, or to give…

paragraph 3 of SCHEDULE 2 of The National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) (Scotland) Regulations 1992

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

3 Any person who refuses or wilfully neglects to attend in obedience to

a notice under paragraph 1, or to give evidence, or who wilfully alters, supresses, conceals, destroys or refuses to produce any book or document which he may be required to furnish under paragraph 1(b), shall be liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level one on the standard scale or to imprisonment for

a period not exceeding

3 months.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 (wilfully).

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: wilfully.

What would breach paragraph 3 of SCHEDULE 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. On these words an offence is committed where a person wilfully alters, supresses, conceals, destroys or refuses to produce any book or document which he may be required to furnish under paragraph 1(b).
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) (Scotland) Regulations 1992, by the time it requires it to be done.
  3. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

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

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
2 March 1992
In force from
3 April 1992
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 re-enact, with amendments, the National Health Service (Service Committees and Tribunal) (Scotland) Regulations 1974 (S.I. 1974/504). Part II and Schedules 1, 2 and 3 make provision as to the investigation of matters relating to services provided by doctors, dentists, pharmacists, ophthalmic medical practitioners and opticians under arrangements with Health Boards in terms of sections 19, 25, 26 and 27 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (c. 29) (“the Act”). Health Boards are required to constitute service committees for the purpose of investigating complaints con cerning allegations of a failure by any such professional person to comply with his terms of service under those arrangements and also to investigate matters relating to such services which are referred by the Health Board. Each Health Board must have separate medical, dental, pharmaceutical and ophthalmic service committees. Each service committee consists of a chairman appointed from the lay members of the Heath Board and 6 other persons of whom 3 are lay persons appointed by the Health Board and 3 (4 in the case of an ophthalmic service committee) are professional persons of the category relevant to the committee and who are appointed by the area medical, dental, pharmaceutical or optical committee as the case may be. Provision is made for a joint services committee and also for deputies to the chairman and members of a service committee (regulation 2). A complaint involving an allegation of a failure by a professional person to comply with his terms of services requires to be submitted to the General Manager of the relevant Health Board in writing or orally where the complainer is unable by reason of physical disability or otherwise to write in the English language. There are time limits for submitting a complaint. Except where a dentist is the subject of the complaint, the complaint must be made within 13 weeks after the event which gave rise to the complaint. In the case of a dentist, the complaint must be made within that 13 week period or within six months after the completion of the treatment in which the failure is alleged to have arisen, whichever is the sooner. Provision is made for receipt of late complaints subject to certain conditions being satisfied. There is also a right of appeal to the Secretary of State to require an investigation of a complaint where the late complaint has not been accepted (regulations 3, 6 and 7). Provided that a complaint has been made properly, it must be referred to the appropriate service committee (regulation 4). A complaint may be withdrawn in certain circumstances (regulation 5). The Health Board is empowered to refer to the appropriate service committee matters relating to services provided as part of general medical services, general dental services, general ophthalmic services or pharmaceutical services. Where there is an allegation of a failure by a professional person to comply with his terms of services, the same time limits as apply to complaints under regulation 3 must be complied with. Regulation 10 and Schedule 1 provide detailed rules of procedure applicable to investigations by service committees of matters referred to them either on complaint or by the Health Board of its own accord. Following receipt of a report by a service committee the Health Board must determine the matter in accordance with regulation 11. Various sanctions are specified. These include recovery of any expenses incurred by a patient due to the failure of the professional person to comply with his terms of service; recommending to the Secretary of State that an amount should be recovered from the professional person by way of withholding from his remuneration or otherwise; requiring him to submit estimates to the Scottish Dental Practice Board for prior approval; warning the professional person to comply with his terms of service in the future; and making a representation to the NHS Tribunal. Provision is made in regulations 12 to 14 for appeals to the Secretary of State by a complainer or by a professional person against a decision of the Health Board relating to an allegation whether there has been a failure to comply with the terms of service which decision is adverse to him. A professional person may also appeal certain sanctions which a Health Board has determined to apply. A complainer may appeal a decision on the issue of expenses which he has incurred in relation to the matter complained of. The Secretary of State is empowered in certain circumstances to make a direction to a Health Board to recover from a professional person on a relevant list of persons providing services to which the Regulations apply an amount by deduction from remuneration or otherwise (regulation 15). Part II of the Regulations also contains provisions relating— a to investigation of excessive prescribing by doctors (regulation 16); b determination of questions as to whether treatment by a doctor given to a patient on his list is treatment for which he may demand or accept a fee or remuneration under his terms of service (regulation 18); c determination of questions as to whether a substance supplied by a doctor, or by a pharmacist on the prescription of a doctor, was a drug for the purposes of pharma ceutical services (regulation 19); and d appeals from decisions of the Scottish Dental Practice Board in relation to general dental services (regulation 20). Part III of, and Schedule 4 to, the Regulations make provision in connection with representations to the NHS Tribunal that the continued inclusion of any professional person in the relevant list of such persons would be prejudicial to the efficiency of the services in question and also with applications for removal of any disqualification from that list. Schedule 4 prescribes forms in connection with proceedings in relation to representations and applications. Part IV of the Regulations makes general provision as to the notices to be issued under the Regulations and for attendance at hearings by a member of the Council on Tribunals. Part V of the Regulations provides for revocation of the 1974 Regulations and those Regula tions which have amended them. Transitional provisions are specified which in effect mean that the 1974 Regulations will continue to apply in relation to investigations and appeals which have been commenced under the 1974 Regulations but have not been concluded by the date of coming into force of these Regulations. The principal changes introduced by these Regulations are as follows:— a the time limit for making a complaint has been increased from 6 to 13 weeks (regulation 3(2) and (3)); b complaints may in certain circumstances be made orally (regulation 3(4)); c the Health Board may seek further information as to the substance of a complaint (regulation 3(5)); d provision is made for withdrawal of complaints either by the complainer or where the respondent dies (regulation 5); e the Health Board’s duties and powers in relation to reports submitted by service committees are further clarified (regulation 11); f amounts determined as recoverable by Health Boards under regulation 11(4)(a) or by the Secretary of State under regulation 15(1) are recoverable from a professional person even if he is no longer on the relevant list (regulations 11(6) and 15(12)); g provision is made for exchanges of comments among parties in appeals to the Secre tary of State (regulation 13(3) to (6); h a professional person is given the option of making representations about the amount of a withholding from remuneration recommended by a Health Board in lieu of exercising his full right of appeal (regulation 12(3)); i 3 weeks' notice of a hearing of a service committee is required instead of 2 weeks (paragraph 8 of Schedule 1); j parties to a hearing of a service committee are required to provide names of witnesses and statements of any person whose evidence they rely on but who will not be present (paragraph 10 of Schedule 1); k the quorum for a service committee has been increased (paragraph 14 of Schedule 1); l subject to exceptions, a complaint will be treated as abandoned if the complainer fails to attend a hearing (paragraph 16(2) of Schedule 1); m provisions concerning who may assist a part in presentation of a case at a hearing of a service committee have been altered (paragraph 17 of Schedule 1); n assistance may be given to a complainer to explain technical terms in comments made by the professional person in relation to the complaint (paragraph 5(3)(b)(ii) of Schedule 1); o regulation 20A of the 1974 Regulations (investigation of excessive prescribing of optical appliances) is not re-enacted.

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 0.72.

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