UK Offence Report

False or misleading information

article 13(1) of The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2023

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 If information is provided by

a person to the CMA in connection with the CMA’s functions under this Chapter, the person is guilty of an offence if—

a the information is false or misleading in

a material particular, and

b the person knows that it is or is reckless as to whether it is.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knows that).

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knows that.

What would breach article 13(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. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2023.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. 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
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

in Scotland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (CP(S)A 1995 s.225(2)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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
25 January 2023
In force from
31 January 2023
Extent
S

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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes provision in consequence of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (asp 17) (“the 2019 Act”). Part 2 gives the Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the power to share information with Scottish local authorities and the Scottish Ministers for any purpose connected to the operation and enforcement of low emission zone schemes created in Scotland under Part 2 of the 2019 Act. Chapter 1 of Part 3 provides the Competition and Markets Authority (“the CMA”) with enforcement powers in relation to the application of the competition test provided for in section 37 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 2) (“the 2001 Act”) to the relevant functions of making and varying bus services improvement partnership schemes, making ticketing schemes on or after 31 October 2023, and varying those ticketing schemes. It also makes procedural provision in relation to the CMA’s exercise of enforcement powers. Chapter 2 of Part 3 provides for a specific competition test and enforcement regime for certain agreements, decisions and practices between bus operators, in place of the provisions in Chapter 1 of the Competition Act 1998 (c. 41). Part 4 makes provision in relation to local services franchises under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the 2001 Act as substituted by section 38 of the 2019 Act. It provides for certain situations involving franchising frameworks made under the 2001 Act to be treated as a relevant transfer for the purposes of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/246) and makes procedural provision in relation to this. Part 5 amends section 26 of the Transport Act 1985 (c. 67) (“the 1985 Act”) which sets out circumstances in which conditions can be attached to a PSV operator’s licence where it appears to a traffic commissioner that an operator has failed to comply with certain requirements. It amends the list of circumstances in section 26(1) of the 1985 Act as follows: To replace references, in section 26(1)(b) of the 1985 Act, to section 8(4) (relating to quality partnerships) and section 22(1)(b) (relating to quality contracts) of the 2001 Act with references to provisions inserted by the 2019 Act (section 3F(1) relating to bus services improvement partnerships and section 13B(1)(b) or (3) relating to local services franchising frameworks). To add failure to comply with the requirement to provide information under section 3K(2) or 13R(2) of the 2001 Act (which enable a local transport authority to require prescribed relevant information from operators of local services when the authority is exercising functions in relation to bus services improvement partnerships and local services franchising frameworks respectively). To add a failure to comply with a requirement under section 6ZA of the 1985 Act (which enables an affected authority to require an operator who has made an application to vary or cancel a service registered under section 6 of the 1985 Act to provide such information as may be prescribed by the Scottish Ministers, within such period as may be prescribed). To add a failure to comply with article 28 of this Order (which places an obligation on a relevant operator in receipt of a request for relevant information to comply with such a request). Part 6 makes provision for revocations and savings. Article 37(1) provides that articles 2 and 4 to 17 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (Conditions attached to PSV Operator’s Licence and Competition Test for Exercise of Bus Functions) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/2748) (“the 2001 Order”) are revoked. These articles contained provision about interpretation and the competition test for the exercise of bus functions. Paragraph (2) makes savings provision in relation to existing quality partnerships and ticketing schemes to ensure that the existing law in the 2001 Order continues to apply for all purposes relating to the making and varying of those schemes. This will include the power of the CMA to commence an investigation under article 6 in relation to a quality partnership scheme. Paragraph (3) makes savings provision protecting information obtained under the 2001 Order in relation to certain tenders for subsidised services. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or 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 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