UK Offence Report

1 A contravention or failure to comply with the provisions of regulations 4 to 37 shall be an offence.

regulation 40(1) of The Children’s Homes (Wales) Regulations 2002 (revoked)

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 contravention or failure to comply with the provisions of regulations 4 to 37 shall be an offence.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
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 40(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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Children’s Homes (Wales) Regulations 2002, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
12 February 2002
In force from
1 April 2002
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 are made under the Care Standards Act 2000 (“the Act”) and apply in relation to children’s homes in Wales. Parts I and II of the Act provide for the National Assembly for Wales, in relation to Wales, to register and inspect establishments and agencies. The Act also provides for the Assembly to make regulations governing the conduct of establishments and agencies in relation to Wales. The majority of Parts I and II of the Act (in so far as not already in force) will be brought into force on 1st April 2002. These new arrangements replace the statutory system in relation to children’s homes provided for by the Children Act 1989, and these Regulations supersede the Children’s Homes Regulations 1991 (as amended) in so far as they apply to Wales. Regulation 3 excludes certain establishments from the definition of a children’s home under section 1 of the Act. These include establishments providing short-term overnight care, holidays, or other activities for less than 28 days a year in relation to any one child, and a wide range of establishments providing accommodation for those aged 16 or over unless, in either case, the establishment mainly accommodates children who are disabled or otherwise fall within the descriptions in section 3(2) of the Act. Further education colleges and establishments for young offenders are also excluded. Under regulation 4, each home must have a statement of purpose consisting of the matters set out in Schedule 1, and a children’s guide to the home. The home must be carried on in a manner which is consistent with the statement of purpose. Regulations 6 to 10 make provision about the persons carrying on or managing the home, and require satisfactory information to be available in relation to the matters prescribed in Schedule 2. Where the provider is an organisation, it must nominate a responsible individual in respect of whom this information must be available (regulation 6). Regulation 7 prescribes the circumstances where a manager must be appointed for the home, and regulation 9 imposes general requirements in relation to the proper conduct of the home, and the need for appropriate training. Part III makes provision about the conduct of children’s homes, in particular as to child protection, welfare, health, education and religious observance, arrangements for contact and visitors, the management of behaviour, and the use of surveillance devices. Provision is also made about the staffing of homes, and the fitness of workers, and about complaints, record keeping and notification of the events listed in Schedule 5. Part IV makes provision about the suitability of premises, and the fire precautions to be taken. Part V deals with the management of children’s homes. Regulation 33 requires the registered provider to visit the home as prescribed, and regulation 34 requires the registered person to review and monitor the matters set out in Schedule 6 relating to the quality of care provided by the home. Regulation 36 imposes requirements relating to the home’s financial position. Part VI deals with miscellaneous matters including the giving of notices to the National Assembly. Regulation 41 provides for offences. A breach of the regulations specified in regulation 41 may found an offence on the part of the registered person. Regulation 42 allows the Assembly to specify offices in parts of Wales for the giving of notices to it under the regulations.

Read the full note and every offence in this 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 0.88.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.88 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