Section 42: Fines: increases and duty of court in determining amount
218.Section 42 of the Act sets out increases in the levels of maximum fine that may be imposed by the courts on conviction for various planning offences and, for certain offences, introduces a requirement for the courts to take account of financial benefit when setting amounts of fines.
219.Subsection (2) makes provision that the maximum penalties for non-compliance with a planning contravention notice set out in sections 126(4) and 126(6) of the 1997 Act are increased. Where the offence is failure to comply with the requirements of a planning contravention notice within 21 days of the date of service, the maximum penalty on summary conviction is increased by section 42(2)(a) of the Act from level three on the standard scale to level five on the standard scale. Where the offence is to knowingly or recklessly make a false or misleading statement in response to a planning contravention notice, the maximum penalty on summary conviction is increased by section 42(2)(b) of the Act from level five on the standard scale to the statutory maximum.
220.Subsection (3) provides that the maximum penalty on summary conviction for the offence of failure to comply with an enforcement notice, set out in section 136(8)(a) of the 1997 Act, increases from £20,000 to £50,000.
221.Subsection (4) relates to an offence where buildings or works have been removed in order to comply with an enforcement notice and subsequently reinstated at a later date (section 138(4) of the 1997 Act). The maximum penalty on summary conviction for this offence is increased from level five on the standard scale to the statutory maximum. Paragraph (b) inserts new section 138(5) which provides that, when a person is convicted of such an offence, the court is to have regard to any financial benefit or likely financial benefit that the convicted person may accrue in consequence of the activity which constituted the offence. This is intended to help ensure that the fine is set at a level that is a genuine deterrent.
222.Subsection (5) increases the maximum penalty on summary conviction for contravention of a stop notice, set out in section 144(5)(a) of the 1997 Act, from £20,000 to £50,000. Subsection (6) similarly increases the maximum penalty for contravention of a temporary stop notice to the same amount (section 144C(6)(a) of the 1997 Act).
223.Subsection (7) provides that the maximum penalty on conviction for the offence of not complying with a breach of condition notice, set out in section 145(12) of the 1997 Act, is increased from level three on the standard scale to level five on the standard scale. Paragraph (b) inserts new section 145(12A) which provides that, when a person is convicted of such an offence, the court is to have regard to any financial benefit or likely financial benefit that the convicted person may accrue in consequence of the activity which constituted the offence. This is intended to help ensure that the fine is set at a level that is a genuine deterrent.
224.Subsection (8) provides that the maximum penalty on summary conviction for the offence of displaying an advertisement in contravention of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984 as amended (or any replacement regulations) increases from level three on the standard scale to level five on the standard scale. In the case of a continuing offence, the penalty increases from one-tenth of level three on the standard scale to one-tenth of level five on the standard scale for each day the offence continues after conviction.
225.‘The standard scale’ refers to the standard scale set out in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Level three is currently set at £1,000 and level five currently at £5,000 (see section 225(2) of that Act). ‘The statutory maximum’ is also set out in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, as amended, and is currently set at £10,000 (see section 225(8) of that Act, as read with the definition of “statutory maximum” in schedule 1 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010).
