UK Offence Report

6 It is an offence for a relevant person on whom a notice is served under this regulation to fail to comply…

regulation 20(6) of The Private Water Supplies (Wales) Regulations 2017

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

6 It is an offence for

a relevant person on whom

a notice is served under this regulation to fail to comply with it.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 20(6)?

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 Private Water Supplies (Wales) Regulations 2017, 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
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

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
25 October 2017
In force from
20 November 2017
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 implement Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption (OJ No. L 330, 5.12.1998, p. 32) in relation to private water supplies and Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom laying down requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption (OJ No. L 296, 7.11.2013, p. 12). These Regulations revoke and replace the Private Water Supplies (Wales) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/66 (W. 16)). These Regulations apply to private water supplies (as defined in regulation 2) intended for human consumption. Part 1 of the Regulations makes miscellaneous provision in relation to water standards for private water supplies. It defines the circumstances in which water is to be regarded as “wholesome” (regulation 4 and Part 1 of Schedule 1). It also sets out the requirements which apply where water is disinfected (regulation 5) and imposes a duty on each local authority to carry out a risk assessment of every private water supply in its area (regulation 6). Part 2 of the Regulations places a duty on local authorities to monitor private water supplies (regulations 7 to 13 and Schedule 2) and to ensure that each sample taken is analysed in the ways set out in Schedule 4 (regulation 14). It sets out the specific monitoring requirements for radioactive substances (indicative dose, radon and tritium) (regulation 12 and 13 and Schedule 3). The indicator parameters for radioactive substances are set out in Table D in Part 3 of Schedule 1. It also requires the local authority to make and keep records for every private water supply in its area (regulation 16 and Schedule 5) and to send a copy of the records to the Drinking Water Inspectorate and upon request, to the Welsh Ministers (regulation 16). Part 3 of the Regulations sets out the procedures to be followed if the water is not wholesome, or it constitutes a potential danger to human health. It requires local authorities to provide information to those people likely to consume the water (regulation 17) and to carry out an investigation (regulation 18). If the cause of the unwholesome water is in the pipework within a domestic premises, local authorities must offer advice on measures necessary for the protection of human health. Local authorities may, in defined circumstances, grant a time-limited authorisation of different standards (regulation 19). Part 4 of the Regulations requires a notice to be served on the “relevant person” (as defined in regulation 2) if any supply constitutes a potential danger to human health (regulation 20) and makes provision for appeals and penalties in connection with such notices (regulations 21 and 22). Part 5 of the Regulations makes provision for the payment of fees (regulation 23 and Schedule 6), revocations (regulation 24) and consequential amendments (regulation 25). It also contains transitional provisions (regulation 26). The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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