UK Offence Report

Delay, obstruction etc of authorised officer

regulation 6(1) of The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Detection of Fraud and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013

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

1 If a person (P)— a intentionally delays or obstructs an authorised officer in the exercise of any power under regulation 4 or 5; b refuses or fails, without reasonable excuse, to provide any information or to provide any document when required to do so under regulation 4; or c refuses or fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement under regulation 5 or with the requirements of any arrangements entered into in accordance with paragraph (1) of that regulation, P shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
obstructing an official exercising a power
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (intentionally).

“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: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

e of any power under regulation 4 or 5; b refuses or fails, without reasonable excuse, to provide any information or to provide any document when required to do so under regulation 4; or c refuses or fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement under regulation 5 or with the requirements of any arrangements entered into in

What would breach regulation 6(1)?

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. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Detection of Fraud and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013.
  2. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  3. Physically blocking an examination, or removing something an officer has said they intend to inspect.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

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
6 March 2013
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.

Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (c.14) (“the 1992 Act”), substituted by section 10 of the Local Government Finance Act 2012 (c.17) (“the 2012 Act”), requires each billing authority in England to make a scheme specifying the reductions which are to apply to amounts of council tax payable by persons or classes of person whom the authority considers are in financial need (a council tax reduction scheme). These Regulations are made under sections 14A to 14C of the 1992 Act (inserted by section 14 of the 2012 Act) and make provision for powers to require information, the creation of offences and powers to impose penalties in connection with council tax reduction schemes. Regulation 3 provides that a billing authority may grant an authorisation to an individual to exercise the powers conferred on an authorised officer under regulations 4 and 5. Regulation 4 enables officers authorised under regulation 3 to require information from specified persons for the purpose of preventing, detecting and securing evidence of the commission (whether by particular persons or more generally) of offences connected with an application for or award of a reduction under a council tax reduction scheme. Regulation 5 enables a billing authority to require the persons specified in regulation 4(3) to enter into arrangements under which authorised officers are allowed access to electronic records. A billing authority may require a person to enter into such arrangements where it appears that facilities exist under which access to those records is being provided or is capable of being provided. In addition, the records must contain or be likely to contain information about a matter relevant to the purpose of preventing, detecting and securing evidence of the commission (whether by particular persons or more generally) of offences connected with an application for or award of a reduction under a council tax reduction scheme. Regulation 6 provides that it is an offence to intentionally delay or obstruct an authorised officer in the exercise of any power under regulation 4 or 5 to require information. It is also an offence for a person to refuse or fail (without reasonable excuse) to comply with a requirement to enter into arrangements for access to electronic records under regulation 5, or to provide information when required to do so under regulation 4. Regulation 7 creates an offence where a person makes a statement or representation which he or she knows to be false for the purpose of obtaining a reduction under a council tax reduction scheme. It is also an offence for a person to provide or knowingly cause or allow to be provided a document or information which that person knows to be false in a material particular, for that purpose. Regulation 8 creates an offence where there has been a change of circumstances which a person knows affects their entitlement to a reduction, and the person fails to give a notice of the change as required by an authority’s scheme by virtue of the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012 or the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Default Scheme) (England) Regulations 2012. It also provides that it is an offence to cause or allow a person to fail to give this notification. Regulation 9 makes provision for offences under the regulations committed by bodies corporate. Regulation 10 sets out the time limit for commencing proceedings for an offence under the regulations. Regulation 11 enables a billing authority to invite a person to agree to pay a penalty as an alternative to prosecution for an offence relating to the award of a reduction under a council tax reduction scheme which a person was not entitled to, or an offence relating to an act or omission which could have resulted in such an award. Regulations 12 and 13 enable a billing authority to impose a penalty of £70 on a person in circumstances such as where a person negligently makes an incorrect statement in connection with an application for a reduction under a council tax reduction scheme or where a person fails to notify a change of circumstances when required to do so under a scheme. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.

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