UK Offence Report

Offence of contravention of fit and proper person requirement

regulation 11(1) of The Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020

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 An occupier of land commits an offence if the occupier contravenes regulation 4(1).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 occupier
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 occupier 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 regulation 11(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. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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
23 September 2020
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 prohibit the use of land as a residential mobile homes site (“site”) unless the local authority is satisfied that the occupier is a fit and proper person to manage the site; a person appointed by the occupier to manage the site is a fit and proper person to do so; or have, with the occupier’s consent, appointed a fit and proper person to manage the site. They also make related provision. Regulation 4 sets out the prohibition described above. It applies to all relevant protected sites apart from non-commercial family-occupied sites. Relevant protected site is defined in section 5A(5) of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. Non-commercial family-occupied site is defined in regulation 3. Regulation 5 and Schedule 1 provide for the establishment by a local authority of a register of persons that they are satisfied are fit and proper persons to manage a site in their area (“register”), the information that must be included in the register, the length of time an entry in the register has effect and inspection of the register. Regulation 6 and Schedule 2 specify the requirements for making an application for inclusion on the register and the decisions the local authority may make on such an application. Regulation 7 and Schedule 3 specify the matters to which a local authority must or may have regard when making a fit and proper person assessment. They must have regard to the matters relating to the person in question specified in Schedule 3, but they may also have regard to any other relevant matters, including the conduct of any associate. Regulation 8 makes provision for removal of a person from the register and variation of conditions of inclusion in the register. Regulation 9 and Schedule 4 provide for the procedure that a local authority must follow in making a decision on an application under regulation 5 or for taking action under regulation 8 to remove a person from the register or vary conditions of inclusion in the register. Paragraph 8 of Schedule 4 gives a right of appeal in respect of such decisions. Regulation 10 provides that a local authority may charge an application fee and annual fee for inclusion on the register in accordance with a published fees policy. Paragraph (7) also enables a local authority to recover, from an occupier, their reasonable costs incurred in appointing a person to manage a site, with the occupier’s consent. Regulation 11 provides that operating a site in contravention of the prohibition set out in regulation 4 is an offence, for which a person would be liable on summary conviction to an unlimited fine. Paragraph (2) and Schedule 5 specify the relevant defences. Regulation 12 sets out other offences under these Regulations. Paragraph (1) provides that an occupier commits an offence if the occupier withholds information from or includes false or misleading information in a registration application. Paragraph (2) provides for an offence of failure to comply with a condition attached to an entry in the register. A person is liable on summary conviction for either or these offences to an unlimited fine. Paragraphs (4) and (5) set out defences to the paragraph (2) offence. Regulation 13 makes provision for revocation of a site licence where there has been a contravention of regulation 4(1) by the licence holder. Paragraph (1) gives the First-tier Tribunal the power to revoke a site licence on application by the local authority. Paragraph (2) applies if the licence holder is convicted of the offence of contravening regulation 4(1) and has been convicted of the same offence in relation to the site on two or more previous occasions. In such a case the court before which the licence holder is convicted may, on the application of the local authority, revoke the site licence. Regulation 14 is a transitional provision that applies if a local authority includes a person on the register before regulation 4 comes into force (“the implementation date”). It provides that such an entry becomes effective on the implementation date. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as 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 “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