General
Section 24 Fixed penalty notices: common provision
101.Section 24 introduces a new section 97A into the 1990 Act, applying general provisions relating to the fixed penalty notices associated with the offence of dropping litter, litter clearing notices, street litter control notices and the distribution of printed matter. It enables the appropriate person (the Secretary of State in relation to England and the National Assembly for Wales in relation to Wales) to make regulations which may set a range within which a locally determined fixed penalty amount must fall. Such regulations may also restrict the extent to which and the circumstances in which an authority may permit the payment of lesser amounts. The section also enables the appropriate person, by order, to change the amount of the fixed penalty where no local rate is set by the relevant authority.
Section 25 Exclusion of liability
102.Section 25 further amends the 1990 Act, by introducing new section 97B. That section protects a principal litter authority and any other person described in section 97B(2) against liability to an occupier or owner of land for damages or otherwise arising out of the exercise of certain powers relating to entry on to land (as specified in the section) in the context of either a litter clearing notice or a litter abatement notice. The circumstances in which this exclusion does not apply are also set out (bad faith, lack of due care etc).
Section 26 “Appropriate person”
103.Section 26 introduces into section 98 of the 1990 Act a definition of the “appropriate person” for the purposes of Part 4 as the Secretary of State in relation to England, and the National Assembly for Wales in relation to Wales.
Section 27 Meaning of “litter”
104.Section 27 clarifies the meaning of “litter” for the purposes of Part 4 of the 1990 Act, by specifically including cigarettes, cigars and like products and discarded chewing gum (including bubble gum). Although these were already considered to fall within the definition of litter, the intention of this section is to provide clarity for practitioners.
