UK Offence Report

Privacy for children involved in proceedings under this Part

regulation 125D(5) of The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2016

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

5 Any person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to

a fine not exceeding level

4 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 125D(5)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes this section.
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2016, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. 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
£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
19 March 2016
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 are made under section 198 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”). Parts 2 to 6 of the 2014 Act make provision about improving the well-being outcomes for people in Wales who need care and support and carers who need support. These Regulations amend primary legislation that currently underpins the provision of care and support for people and support for carers in Wales. In general, the primary legislation to be amended which relates to the provision of care and support for adults and carers (“the current community care legislation”) applies only in relation to Wales. The amendments made in these Regulations will mean that the current community care legislation is repealed, or (to the extent that it continues to apply in relation to England) that it will no longer apply in relation to Wales but will continue to apply in relation to England. In general, the primary legislation which relates to the provision of care and support to children and their families is contained in Part 3 of the Children Act 1989 (“the 1989 Act”). The amendments made in these Regulations will mean that Part 3 of the 1989 Act will no longer apply in relation to Wales but will, however, continue to apply in relation to England. Part 7 of the 2014 Act makes provision about safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children, including the establishment of Safeguarding Boards for adults and children. These Regulations amend the Children Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) to remove the current requirements for the establishment of Local Safeguarding Children Boards in Wales. Part 8 of the 2014 Act makes provision for social services functions. It introduces Schedule 2, which specifies the social services functions of local authorities. It also makes provision for the appointment of directors of social services, for the making of codes about the exercise of social services functions and for intervention by the Welsh Ministers where a local authority is failing to exercise its social services functions properly. Provision for these matters is currently contained in the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 (“the 1970 Act”). These Regulations amend the 1970 Act so that it will no longer apply in relation to Wales but will continue to apply in relation to England. Part 10 of the 2014 Act makes provision for complaints and representations about social services provided or arranged by local authorities. Provision for complaints is currently contained in Part 2 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 (“the 2003 Act”) and provision for representations in relation to children is contained in the Part 3 of the 1989 Act. These Regulations will amend the 2003 Act and the 1989 Act to remove the provision for these matters in so far as they relate to Wales. In general, where a provision in UK primary legislation has been disapplied in relation to England and it is intended that it will no longer apply in relation to Wales, the Regulations provide for that provision to be omitted or (if this applies to a whole Act) repealed. In terms of the extent of that omission or repeal, it can only extend to the jurisdiction of England and Wales and has no effect on that provision in so far as it extends to the jurisdiction of Scotland or the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland. The Regulations also make consequential and incidental amendments to other primary legislative provisions which refer, for various purposes, to the current community care legislation, the 1989 Act, the 2004 Act, the 1970 Act or the 2003 Act. These amendments make, in respect of Wales, provision which reflects the new provisions in the 2014 Act. The Schedule contains transitional and saving provisions in connection with the amendments made by 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 0.92.

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