UK Offence Report

Offence relating to onward disclosure of personal information

regulation 30(1) of The Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022

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 commits an offence if—

a the person discloses information in contravention of regulation

28 or 29,

b the disclosure relates to any person whose identity—

i is specified in the disclosure, or

ii can be deduced from it, and

c the disclosure is made other than in accordance with—

i an enactment,

ii an order of

a court, or

iii the written consent of the person to whom the information relates.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 a person 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 30(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 Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
1 year
Maximum prison (on indictment)
1 year

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
8 November 2022
In force from
1 December 2022
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 these Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations secure that childcare is available free of charge for qualifying children of working parents. These Regulations replace the Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/1257). Part 3 provides for determinations as to whether a child is eligible for childcare under section 1 of the Childcare Act 2016 (c. 5) (“the Act”). In summary: regulations 13 to 18 specify matters for the purposes of section 1(2)(c) and (d) of the Act (which relate to the definition of “qualifying child of working parents”); regulations 19 to 21 provide for the making of declarations under section 1(2)(e) of the Act (to the effect that a child is a qualifying child of working parents); regulations 22 to 24 provide for the making of determinations as to whether a child is a qualifying child of working parents; regulations 25 and 26 set out the period for which a declaration in respect of a child determined to be a qualifying child of working parents has effect; regulation 27 sets out the period for which a child (in respect of whom a declaration has effect) is eligible for childcare under section 1 of the Act. regulations 28 and 29 provide for the disclosure of information. Part 4 sets out offences and penalties. In summary: regulation 30 makes it an offence to share unlawfully any personal information disclosed under regulation 28 or 29; regulations 31 to 33 establish penalties for certain conduct connected with determinations as to whether a child is eligible for childcare under section 1 of the Act; regulations 34 and 35 provide for the assessment and enforcement of penalties. Part 5 provides for reviews and appeals. In summary: regulations 36 to 38 provide for the review of, and the procedure to review, certain decisions made by the Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs; regulation 39 provides for appeals to the First-tier Tribunal against decisions reviewed under regulations 36 to 38; regulations 40 to 42 sets out the decisions the First-tier Tribunal may make in appeals. regulation 43 provides that the Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and an appellant may settle an appeal by agreement before it is finally disposed. Part 6 sets out the duties of English local authorities. In summary: regulation 44 requires an English local authority to secure that childcare is made available free of charge for qualifying children of working parents in their area; regulations 45 to 48 require, and provide for, an English local authority to make arrangements with a childcare provider the parent of a child chooses to provide any childcare the local authority must secure for their child; regulation 49 requires an English local authority, when discharging its duties under these Regulations, to have regard to any guidance given by the Secretary of State. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary, or public sector is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside this instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk. Table of corresponding provisions The following table sets out where the regulatory provisions of the Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) Regulations 2016 (“the 2016 Regulations”) may be found in these Regulations. Origin in the 2016 Regulations Destination in these Regulations Regulation 3(1) Regulations 13 and 20(a) Regulation 3(2) and (3) Regulation 9 Regulations 4 and 4A Regulations 14 and 15 Regulation 5(1) and (1A) Regulations 16 and 17(1) and (2) Regulation 5(2) Regulation 7(1)(c) Regulations 5(3) to (6) and 6 Regulation 18 Regulation 7 Regulation 17(3)(b) and (4) Regulations 8 and 9 Regulations 16(3) and 17(3)(a) Regulation 10 Regulation 10 Regulation 11 Regulation 19(2) Regulation 12 Regulation 11 Regulations 13 and 14 Regulation 21 Regulations 15 and 16 Regulations 25 to 27 Regulation 17 Regulation 22 Regulation 17A Regulation 24 Regulation 18(1) to (3) Regulation 28 Regulation 18(4) to (6) Regulation 29 Regulation 19 Regulation 30 Regulation 20 Regulation 22(2)(c) Regulations 21 and 29 Regulations 36 and 38 Regulations 22 and 30 Regulation 37 Regulations 23 and 31 Regulation 39 Regulation 24 Regulation 41 Regulation 25 Regulation 33 Regulation 26 Regulation 32 Regulation 27 Regulation 31 Regulation 28 Regulation 34 Regulation 32 Regulation 42 Regulations 33 and 35 Regulation 44 Regulation 34 Regulation 6(1)(a) Regulation 36 Regulation 45 Regulation 37 Regulation 46 Regulation 38(1) Regulation 47 Regulation 38(2) Regulation 48 Regulation 39 Regulation 49

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

This instrument became law without a debate or a vote. Under the negative procedure it took effect unless a motion to stop it succeeded, and none was tabled.

Neither House could have amended it. A statutory instrument is put to each House as a whole thing, to be approved or not; the Houses can reject an instrument or record their regret, but they cannot change a word of it. That is the constitutional position for every offence on this site.

The full procedural history →

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