The Environmental Offences (Fixed Penalties) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Regulations 3 and 4 prescribe the ranges within which the amounts of certain fixed penalties that are capable of being specified (in place of the amount prescribed in the relevant Statutes) by a district council (as variously described in the relevant Statutes) are required to fall (regulation 3). The Regulations also prescribe the minimum amount of fixed penalty that a district council may (if it chooses to do so) treat as full payment of the fixed penalty where a lesser amount than the full prescribed amount (whether this is the amount specified locally by the district council, or that prescribed in the relevant Statute) is paid within such period of less than 14 days as may be specified by the district council in the notice (regulation 4).

Accordingly, in respect of a notice of a fixed penalty that is capable of being issued for certain offences for which the amount prescribed in the relevant Statute is £75, the Regulations prescribe that the range within which a district council may choose to specify its own locally applicable amount is between £50 and £80 (regulation 3(1)(a)). If a district council decides to treat a lesser sum paid within a specified period as full payment of the fixed penalty, the Regulations provide that that lesser sum shall not be less than £40 (regulation 4(1)).

In respect of certain other offences, for which the amount of fixed penalty prescribed in the relevant Statute is £100, the Regulations prescribe that the range within which a district council may choose to specify its own locally applicable amount is between £75 and £110 (regulation 3(1)(b)). In respect of any of those offences, if a district council decides to treat a lesser sum paid within a specified period as full payment of the fixed penalty, the Regulations provide that that lesser sum shall not be less than £60 (regulation 4(2)).

In respect of other offences, for which the amounts of fixed penalty prescribed in the relevant Statutes are, respectively, £100 and £200 (but in the case with no facility for a district council to specify a different locally applicable amount), a district council may still decide to treat a lesser sum paid within a specified period as full payment of the fixed penalty, and the Regulations provide that those lesser sums shall not be less than £60 (regulation 4(2)) or £120 (regulation 4(3)), respectively.

Regulation 5 revokes the Litter (Fixed Penalty Notices) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995, which had prescribed the form of notice which may be given by an authorised officer of a district council to a person who he believes has committed an offence under Article 3(1) of the Litter (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 offering the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction by payment of a fixed penalty.

A regulatory impact assessment on the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 can be accessed on the Department’s website. A separate regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for these Regulations as they have no impact on the cost to business.