UK Offence Report

1 A person who has custody of a document which is required by regulation 8 to be available for inspection by…

regulation 10(1) of The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014

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 A person who has custody of

a document which is required by regulation

8 to be available for inspection by members of the public commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, that person—

a intentionally obstructs any person exercising

a right conferred under this Part in relation to inspecting written records and background papers; or

b refuses any request under this Part to provide written records or background papers.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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

inspection by members of the public commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, that person— a intentionally obstructs any person exercising a right conferred under this Part in relation to inspecting written records and background papers; or b refuses any request under this Part to provide written records or background papers.

What would breach regulation 10(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person has custody of a document which is required by regulation 8 to be available for inspection by members of the public.
  2. Refusing to let an inspector onto premises they are entitled to enter under the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014.
  3. Sending an official away, or telling staff to say nothing, where the power being exercised does not depend on anyone's consent.
  4. 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
£200
Standard scale
Level 1
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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 August 2014
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 to allow members of the public to report and commentate on public meetings of local government bodies in England. They also require written records to be kept of certain decisions taken by officers of these bodies. Regulation 3 amends the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 to allow entry to the meetings of specified local government bodies for the purposes of reporting and to allow the results of the reporting to be publish or disseminated. “Reporting” includes filming and providing commentary on proceedings and allows for the use of a wide range of methods including social media. Regulations 4 and 5 make similar amendments to the Local Government Act 1972 and the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012. Regulation 7 provides for the making of a written record of certain decisions taken by officers of relevant local government bodies; regulation 8 provides for the publication of that record; regulation 9 provides an exemption for confidential information and regulation 10 imposes a criminal sanction in relation to obstruction of persons in providing information under regulation 8, punishable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale. An impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as it will have no impact on the costs of business or the voluntary sector.

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 “commits 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