UK Offence Report

SCHEDULE 3

SCHEDULE 3 of The Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) (Amendment) 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

4 A person (“P”) shall also be guilty of an offence if he votes as named voter for more than two business vote holders.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Mixed — some elements strict, some not
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove the conduct, and - for those elements the provision qualifies (knowing that) - the state of mind it names. The remaining elements carry no fault requirement, so they are strict.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no fault word in the offence-creating words, but the surrounding provision uses knowing that - which element it governs was not determined.

What would breach SCHEDULE 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 votes as named voter for more than two business vote holders.
  2. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) (Amendment) Regulations 2013.
  3. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  4. 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
Unlimited
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
11.77 months

level 5 is unlimited in England and Wales for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 (LASPO 2012 s.85, S.I. 2015/664).

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
5 April 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.

These Regulations make provision for the conduct of additional “business referendums” held under paragraph 12(4) of Schedule 4B to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the 1990 Act”). These Regulations only apply in relation to England. The business referendums will relate to the question of whether a neighbourhood development plan or a neighbourhood development order is approved. Provision is made by amending the Neighbourhood Planning (Referendums) Regulations 2012 (“the Referendums Regulations”). Additional referendums are provided for in paragraph 15 of Schedule 4B and are required for a neighbourhood area which has been designated as a business area and are in addition to the residential referendum for the area. Regulation 3 inserts definitions of “business referendum” and “residential referendum” into regulation 2 (Interpretation) of the Referendums Regulations. Regulation 4 amends regulation 4 (Information to be made available in relation to referendums) of the Referendums Regulations. In particular it provides that information must be published in connection with a referendum and a business referendum in a designated business area not fewer than 56 days before the date it is held. Regulation 5 amends regulation 6 (General restriction on referendum expenses) of the Referendums Regulations by modifying the formula for referendum expenses where there is a business referendum. Regulation 6 amends regulation 8 (Conduct of referendum: poll at referendum not take together with poll at relevant election or referendum), 11 (Cross-boundary referendum areas and the Chief Counting Officer) and 12 (Combination of polls: conduct of referendum) of the Referendums Regulations so that a business referendum cannot be combined with any other election or referendum (including the residential neighbourhood planning referendum (“corresponding residential referendum”)). Regulation 7 inserts regulation 17 (Business referendums) and Schedules 6, 7 and 8 into the Referendums Regulations. Regulation 17 provides in particular that a business referendum must be held on the same day as the corresponding residential referendum. Regulation 8 amends Schedule 3 of the Referendums Regulations to correct an error in those Regulations and to make the correct provision for the mode by which a legal challenge may be brought in relation to a referendum held under paragraph 14 of Schedule 4B to the 1990 Act. Schedule 6 sets out the rules for the business voting register. In particular the Schedule makes provision for obtaining data from the business rates records held by local authorities, sending out invitations to register, compilation, publication and supply of the business voting register, alteration of the business voting register and appeals. Schedule 7 sets out the rules which apply to the conduct of business referendums. These rules are based closely on the rules for conduct of referendums set out in Schedule 3 to the Referendums Regulations. Schedule 8 sets out the election legislation which is to apply to business referendums, and how that legislation is modified, namely the Representation of the People Act 1983, Representation of the People Act 2000, Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and the Electoral Administration Act 2006.

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