The Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024

Enforcement cost recovery notices

12.—(1) The Regulator may serve a notice (“an enforcement cost recovery notice”) on a person on whom a variable monetary penalty notice, compliance notice, restoration notice or stop notice has been served requiring that person to pay the costs incurred by the Regulator in relation to the notice up to—

(a) in the case of a variable monetary penalty notice, compliance notice or restoration notice, the time of its imposition; or

(b) in the case of a stop notice, the time of service.

(2) In this regulation “costs” include in particular—

(a) investigation costs;

(b) administration costs;

(c) costs of obtaining expert advice, including legal advice.

(3) The enforcement cost recovery notice must specify—

(a) the grounds for serving the notice;

(b) the amount to be paid;

(c) how payment must be made;

(d) the period in which payment must be made, which must not be less than 28 days;

(e) the right of appeal;

(f) the consequences of failure to make payment in the specified period.

(4) The person on whom the notice is served may request that the Regulator provide a detailed breakdown of the amount to be paid.

(5) The Regulator must comply with a request made under paragraph (4).

(6) The person on whom the notice is served is not liable to pay any costs shown by that person to have been incurred unnecessarily.

(7) The person on whom the notice is served may appeal against it in writing before the end of the period specified by the Regulator in the notice which must not be less than 28 days.

(8) The grounds of appeal are—

(a) that the decision of the Regulator to impose the requirement to pay costs is unfair or unreasonable;

(b) that the decision of the Regulator as to the amount of those costs is unfair or unreasonable;

(c) any other reason.

(9) Where a person on whom the notice is served fails to pay the full amount to be paid as specified in the notice before the end of the period for payment specified in the notice, the Regulator may recover the amount outstanding as a debt, together with interest on that amount, calculated in accordance with paragraph (10).

(10) Where the Regulator exercises the power conferred under paragraph (9), interest may be charged to the amount to be paid for each day from the end of the period for payment specified in the notice to the date on which payment of that amount, and of any associated costs, is made in full.

(11) For the purposes of paragraphs (9) and (10), the rate of interest applicable on any day is one percentage point above the Bank of England base rate.

(12) In paragraph (11) “Bank of England base rate” means—

(a) except where sub-paragraph (b) applies, the rate announced from time to time by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England as the official dealing rate, being the rate at which the Bank is willing to enter into transactions for providing short term liquidity in the money markets; or

(b) if an order under section 19 of the Bank of England Act 1998(1) (reserve powers) is in force, any equivalent rate determined by the Treasury under that section.

(1)

1998 c. 11.