UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 10 of The Gas Safety (Rights of Entry) Regulations 1996

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

10 Any person contravening or failing to comply with any provision of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 10?

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 Gas Safety (Rights of Entry) Regulations 1996, 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
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (1996-11-01); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
3 October 1996
In force from
1 November 1996
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 confer rights of entry upon “public gas transporters” and “relevant authorities” to enter premises for the purpose of preventing gas escapes, the examination and disconnection of “gas fittings” and other related purposes. The Regulations, which supersede the Gas Safety (Rights of Entry) Regulations 1983 (“the 1983 Regulations”), are made in consequence of amendments to the Gas Act 1986 (“the 1986 Act”) by the Gas Act 1995. The Regulations do not apply to gas being processed or stored at a gas processing facility (regulation 3). Regulation 4 enables a “public gas transporter” through its authorised officers to enter— in respect of escapes or suspected escapes of gas which it conveys, any premises(regulation 4(1)); and in respect of escapes or suspected escapes of gas which is conveyed by another person, premises which are or are reasonably believed to be within its “authorised area”(regulation 4(2)). Regulations 5 to 10 (which re-enact with drafting amendments regulations 2 to 8 of the 1983 Regulations)— enable authorised officers of “the relevant authority” to enter premises of consumers to examine and test in such premises “gas fittings”, flues or means of ventilation used in connection with “gas fittings”, and any “service pipe” and other apparatus used for the conveyance or supply of gas or which is connected with a gas main and where they consider it necessary for the purpose of averting danger to life or property, to disconnect and seal off any “gas fitting” or part of the gas system or cut off the premises or signify the refusal of “the relevant authority” to convey or, as the case may be, allow gas to be conveyed to the premises (regulation 5); provide for consumers to be notified as to the nature of the defect or other circumstances in consequence of which any “gas fitting” or part of a gas system has been so disconnected or sealed off, or the premises have been cut off or the conveyance of gas has been refused (regulation 6), and enable them to appeal to the appropriate Secretary of State who at present is the Secretary of State for the Environment whose principal office is at 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 3EB (regulation 7); prohibit the reconnection of any “gas fitting”, part of a gas system or any premises, or cause gas to be conveyed to any premises except with the consent of “the relevant authority” or in accordance with directions given by the Secretary of State in consequence of an appeal (regulation 9); and make contravention or failure to comply with these Regulations an offence punishable on summary conviction with a maximum fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (at present £5,000)(regulation 10). The only changes of substance in the re-enactment of regulations 2 to 8 of the 1983 Regulations are— a qualification to the prohibition on reconnection of any gas fitting or premises following disconnection (regulation 9(2)); and the increase in the maximum fine for a breach of the Regulations from £1,000 to £5,000. Regulation 11 of the Regulations revokes the 1983 Regulations. The expression “the relevant authority” is defined by section 18(9) of the 1986 Act— in relation to dangers arising from the conveyance of gas by a public gas transporter, or from the use of gas conveyed by such a transporter, as meaning that transporter; and in relation to dangers arising from the conveyance of gas by a person other than a public gas transporter, or from the use of gas conveyed by such a person, as meaning the Secretary of State. The expressions “authorised area”, “gas fittings”, “service pipe” and “public gas transporter” are defined in section 48(1) of the 1986 Act. Section 18(8) of the 1986 Act provides that, with appropriate adaptations, the Rights of Entry (Gas and Electricity Boards) Act 1954 (c. 21) (which provides that, other than in case of emergency, powers of entry shall not be exercisable except with consent given by or on behalf of the occupier of the premises or under the authority of a warrant) shall apply to the powers of entry conferred by these Regulations. A copy of the cost benefit assessment prepared in respect of these Regulations can be obtained from the Health and Safety Executive, Gas Safety Policy Section, Safety Policy Directorate, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS. A copy has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament.

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 0.92.

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