UK Offence Report

Imposition of a variable monetary penalty

paragraph 11(3)(b) of SCHEDULE of The Prohibition on Disposal of Food Waste to Sewer (Civil Sanctions) (Wales) 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

b punishable on summary conviction by

a fine (whether or not it is also punishable by

a term of imprisonment),

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 paragraph 11(3)(b) of SCHEDULE?

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 what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Prohibition on Disposal of Food Waste to Sewer (Civil Sanctions) (Wales) Order 2023.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

'to a fine' with no stated maximum.

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
29 November 2023
In force from
6 April 2024
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 this Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes provision in relation to the prohibition on the disposal of food waste to sewer under section 34D of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as inserted by section 66(1) of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 (anaw 3)). Breach of this prohibition is an offence under section 34D(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43). A civil sanctions regime is introduced to enable the regulator to impose fixed monetary penalties, variable monetary penalties and non-compliance penalties (article 5 and paragraphs 1, 11 and 19 of the Schedule). The regulator, for the purposes of this Order, is the local authority for the area in which the premises are situated. This Order makes provision for the procedure relating to the civil sanctions, including appeals. Appeals under this Order are to the First-tier Tribunal. The Schedule to this Order (paragraphs 25 to 27) provides that guidance relating to the use of civil sanctions must be published. Guidance must also be published relating to the use of non-compliance penalties and enforcement cost recovery notices (paragraph 26). Before any guidance is published, the regulator is required to consult (paragraph 27). This Order also provides for the publication of information on enforcement action taken by the regulator (paragraph 28 of the Schedule). The regulator is able to recover certain costs of enforcement (paragraph 22 of the Schedule) in the case of variable monetary penalties. The regulator is able to recover any fixed monetary penalty, variable monetary penalty or non-compliance penalty imposed by the regulator under this Order together with any financial penalty for late payment (paragraph 29 of the Schedule). Article 6 gives enforcement officers powers of investigation in relation to potential offences, including powers of entry and seizure. The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to this Order. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with this Order. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Government at Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ and on the Welsh Government website atwww.gov.wales.

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 0.60.

Basis
the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
Confidence
0.60 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