UK Offence Report

Prohibition on disclosure of information

paragraph 28A(2) of SCHEDULE of The Horserace Betting Levy Regulations 2017

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

2 The relevant officer commits an offence unless the disclosure is made— a for the purposes of section 28 or of a report of any proceedings before an appeal tribunal under that section, or b for the purposes of, or of a report of— i proceedings for the recovery from the person of any amount due under section 28 by way of the levy, or ii any criminal proceedings.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an officer
Conduct
breaching the provision
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 an officer 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 paragraph 28A(2) of SCHEDULE?

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. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Horserace Betting Levy Regulations 2017.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
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
24 April 2017
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 in relation to the Horserace Betting Levy (“the Levy”), which is administered by the Horserace Betting Levy Board (“the Levy Board”). These Regulations commence on 1st April 2017 or the day after they are made, whichever is later. Regulation 2 makes provision for what happens if the Regulations do not come into force on 1st April 2017. Paragraphs 1 to 10 of the Schedule amend the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 (“1963 Act”). Paragraph 2 amends section 24 of that Act. The duty of the Levy Board of assessing, collecting and applying the levy in section 24(1) is extended to betting exchange providers. Paragraph 4 of the Schedule amends section 27 of the 1963 Act which creates the liability to pay the Levy. Section 27(1) is amended to extend the class of persons liable to pay the Levy to include betting exchange providers. By virtue of section 27(1C) this includes those bookmakers and betting exchange providers required to hold remote operating licences (within the meaning of Gambling Act 2005). Section 27(1A) charges the Levy at the rate of 10% of the amount by which a person’s profits for a levy period exceed the exempt amount. A person’s profits are the sum of their profits as a bookmaker and any commission charged as a betting exchange provider on leviable bets (section 27(1B)). The exempt amount is set at £500,000 (section 27D). A leviable bet is defined in section 29A as a bet that relates to horse racing in Great Britain and is made (whether in person or remotely) by a person who is in Great Britain when the bet is made. Paragraph 5 of the Schedule inserts new sections 27A to 27E into the 1963 Act. Sections 27A to 27D detail how profits are to be calculated. Paragraph 6 of the Schedule amends section 28 of the 1963 Act, extending it to apply to all persons liable to the Levy. Paragraph 8 of the Schedule extends provision made about levy appeal tribunals in section 29 to all persons liable to the Levy. Paragraphs 11 to 15 of the Schedule amend the Horserace Betting Levy Act 1969. Section 3, which relates to the Levy Board’s costs on appeal, is amended to extend to all persons liable to pay the Levy. Paragraphs 16 to 21 of the Schedule amend the Horserace Betting Levy Act 1981. Section 1 provides the Levy Board may require a person to make payments on account in advance of assessment to the Levy. The remainder of the Act is amended to extend it to all persons liable to the Levy. The Levy is a State aid within the meaning of Article 107(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The amendments being made to the Levy ensure that it will be compatible with State aid rules. No impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations as they do not relate to regulatory matters. An explanatory memorandum is available alongside this instrument on the Legislation UK website at www.legislation.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.

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