(1)For the purposes of sections 153 and 154, the Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for the Secretary of State to appoint persons to assess—
(a)whether the conditions for the imposition of a costs contribution order under either of those sections are met;
(b)the works required to make a building or dwelling fit for habitation;
(c)what interest a person has in a building or dwelling;
(d)the costs that a person has reasonably incurred or is likely to reasonably incur in respect of works referred to in paragraph (b);
(e)the amount that a person should be required to pay under a costs contribution order.
(2)The regulations may include provision about the criteria to be met by a person before they may be appointed as an assessor.
(3)The regulations may make provision about assessments, including provision—
(a)conferring power on an assessor to require that persons provide such information as the assessor may reasonably require for the purposes of an assessment;
(b)for the provision of information by an assessor to the Secretary of State (including any information provided under paragraph (a)).
(4)Regulations under subsection (3)(a) may include provision for criminal offences relating to a failure to provide information, or to the provision of false or misleading information.
(5)Regulations under subsection (3)(a) creating a criminal offence must have the effect that—
(a)the offence is—
(i)triable summarily only, or
(ii)triable summarily or on indictment,
(b)the offence is punishable only—
(i)with a fine, or
(ii)with a term of imprisonment or a fine (or both),
(c)where the offence is triable summarily only, any fine with which the offence is punishable in Scotland or Northern Ireland does not exceed level 5 on the standard scale,
(d)where the offence is triable summarily or on indictment, any fine with which the offence is punishable on summary conviction in Scotland or Northern Ireland does not exceed the statutory maximum, and
(e)any term of imprisonment with which the offence is punishable on summary conviction does not exceed—
(i)in England and Wales, the relevant period,
(ii)in Scotland, 12 months, and
(iii)in Northern Ireland, 6 months.
(6)In subsection (5)(e)(i), “the relevant period” means—
(a)in relation to an offence that is triable summarily only—
(i)where the offence is committed before the coming into force of section 281 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, 6 months, and
(ii)where the offence is committed after that time, 51 weeks;
(b)in relation to an offence that is triable summarily or on indictment—
(i)where the offence is committed before the coming into force of paragraph 24(2) of Schedule 22 to the Sentencing Act 2020, 6 months, and
(ii)where the offence is committed after that time, 12 months.
(7)Regulations under subsection (3)(b) may make provision for the purpose of securing that there is (taking into account any power or duty to provide information under the regulations) no contravention of the data protection legislation.
(8)In subsection (7), “data protection legislation” has the same meaning as in the Data Protection Act 2018 (see section 3 of that Act).
Commencement Information
I1S. 155 in force at 28.6.2022, see s. 170(3)(e)