PART 4Community protection
CHAPTER 2Public spaces protection orders
Failure to comply with orders
68Fixed penalty notices
(1)
A constable or an authorised person may issue a fixed penalty notice to anyone he or she has reason to believe has committed an offence under section 63 or 67 in relation to a public spaces protection order.
(2)
A fixed penalty notice is a notice offering the person to whom it is issued the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for the offence by payment of a fixed penalty to a local authority specified in the notice.
(3)
The local authority specified under subsection (2) must be the one that made the public spaces protection order.
(4)
Where a person is issued with a notice under this section in respect of an offence—
(a)
no proceedings may be taken for the offence before the end of the period of 14 days following the date of the notice;
(b)
the person may not be convicted of the offence if the person pays the fixed penalty before the end of that period.
(5)
A fixed penalty notice must—
(a)
give reasonably detailed particulars of the circumstances alleged to constitute the offence;
(b)
state the period during which (because of subsection (4)(a)) proceedings will not be taken for the offence;
(c)
specify the amount of the fixed penalty;
(d)
state the name and address of the person to whom the fixed penalty may be paid;
(e)
specify permissible methods of payment.
(6)
An amount specified under subsection (5)(c) must not be more than £100.
(7)
A fixed penalty notice may specify two amounts under subsection (5)(c) and specify that, if the lower of those amounts is paid within a specified period (of less than 14 days), that is the amount of the fixed penalty.
(8)
Whatever other method may be specified under subsection (5)(e), payment of a fixed penalty may be made by pre-paying and posting to the person whose name is stated under subsection (5)(d), at the stated address, a letter containing the amount of the penalty (in cash or otherwise).
(9)
Where a letter is sent as mentioned in subsection (8), payment is regarded as having been made at the time at which that letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.
(10)
In any proceedings, a certificate that—
(a)
purports to be signed by or on behalf of the chief finance officer of the local authority concerned, and
(b)
states that payment of a fixed penalty was, or was not, received by the dated specified in the certificate,
is evidence of the facts stated.
(11)
In this section—
“authorised person” means a person authorised for the purposes of this section by the local authority that made the order (or authorised by virtue of section 69(2));
“chief finance officer”, in relation to a local authority, means the person with responsibility for the authority's financial affairs.