UK Offence Report

General restriction on referendum expenses

regulation 6(3) of The Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) Regulations 2012

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 Where any referendum expenses are incurred in excess of the referendum expenses limit,

a person who knew or ought reasonably to have known that that limit would be exceeded, or who, without reasonable excuse, authorises another person to exceed that limit, is guilty of an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Objective fault
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened and that it fell below the standard the provision sets. That is an objective test - what a reasonable person in the same position would have done, not what this defendant actually thought.

What a person personally believed or intended is not the question; the standard is what was reasonable.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: objective standard in the offence-creating words: ought reasonably to have known; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

ly to have known that that limit would be exceeded, or who, without reasonable excuse, authorises another person to exceed that limit, is guilty of an offence.

What would breach regulation 6(3)?

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 knew or ought reasonably to have known that that limit would be exceeded, or who, without reasonable excuse, authorises another person to exceed that limit.
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) Regulations 2012.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
1 year
Maximum prison (on indictment)
1 year

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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 August 2012
In force from
Not determined
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 make provision for the conduct of referendums held under paragraph 16 of Schedule 4B to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the 1990 Act”). These Regulations only apply in relation to England. The referendums will relate to the question of whether a neighbourhood plan, neighbourhood development order or a community right to build order is approved. Regulation 3 and Schedule 1 prescribe the form of words of the question to be asked in a referendum. Regulation 4 sets out the further information that must be published in connection with a referendum, not fewer than 28 days before the date it is held. And provides for certain days to be ignored in calculating the referendum period. Regulation 5 imposes restrictions on the material that may be published by or on behalf of the relevant council and the local planning authority for the area during the period of 28 days before the date the referendum is held. Regulation 6 imposes a referendum expenses limit on the amount that may be incurred by way of referendum expenses. Schedule 2 makes provision about the matters relevant to referendum expenses. Under regulation 6(3) it is an offence for a campaign organiser in certain circumstances to exceed that limit. Regulation 7 provides for amounts relevant to certain property, services and facilities to be treated as incurred by way of referendum expenses for the purposes of regulation 6. Regulation 8 provides that a referendum is to be conducted in accordance with the Neighbourhood Planning Referendums Rules (set out in Schedule 3), where the poll is not taken together with the poll at another election or referendum. Other electoral legislation is applied, with modifications, to facilitate the conduct of referendums (set out in Tables 1 to 6 of Schedule 4). Regulation 9 specifies who is to be the counting officer at the referendum and makes provision in relation to the counting officer’s duties. Regulation 10 allows a relevant council, where the referendum area comprises any part of the area of two or more relevant councils, to appoint a chief counting officer in relation to the referendum, who may give directions to a counting officer. Regulation 11 makes provision for the combination of polls. Where another election or referendum is to be held within 28 days of the date proposed for the referendum they may be combined if the returning officers and counting officer think fit. Regulation 12 makes provision for the conduct of referendums where combined with polls at elections or other referendums. The rules for conducting such referendums are the Neighbourhood Planning Referendums (Combination of Polls) Rules (set out in Schedule 5). Other electoral legislation is applied to facilitate the conduct of such referendums (set out in Tables 1 to 6 of Schedule 4). Regulation 13 makes provision about the conduct of elections (or other referendums) when they are combined with the poll at the referendum. Other electoral legislation is applied to facilitate the conduct of such referendums (set out in Tables 2, 3 and 6 and Parts 2 and 3 of Schedule 4). Regulation 14 exempts advertisements relating specifically to the referendum from regulations under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (c. 8) controlling the display of advertisements. Regulation 15 provides that premises used in relation to the referendum for public meetings or the taking of polls are to be treated as unoccupied for rating purposes. Regulation 16 makes provision for co-operation between authorities where the relevant council holding the referendum is not the local planning authority. An impact assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations. The assessment has been placed in the Library of each House of Parliament and can be found on the Department for Communities and Local Government website (http://www.communities.gov.uk).

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.

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