The Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989

Collection of penalties

24.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (4), where a penalty is payable by a person to a charging authority under paragraph 1 or 2 of Schedule 3 to the Act it may be collected, as the authority to which it is payable determines, either–

(a) by treating the penalty for the purposes of regulations 16 and 17 and Schedule 1 as it it were part of the amount that the person will be liable to pay in respect of a community charge as it has effect for a chargeable financial year as regards any demand notice issued pursuant to regulation 16(2) after the penalty is imposed, or

(b) by the service by the authority on the person of a notice requiring payment of the penalty on the expiry of such period (being not less than 14 days) after the issue of the notice as is specified in it.

(2) Where the imposition of a penalty is subject to an appeal or arbitration, no amount shall be payable in respect of the penalty while the appeal or arbitration is outstanding.

(3) The imposition of a penalty is to be treated as subject to an appeal or arbitration for the purposes of this regulation upon the service of a notice in respect of it by the person in accordance with section 24 of the Act, and is to be treated as outstanding until any appeal under section 23 of the Act or arbitration under regulations made under paragraph 4 of Schedule 11 to the Act in relation to the matter by which he stated he was aggrieved in the notice is finally disposed of or abandoned or fails for non-prosecution; and the circumstances in which an appeal is to be treated as failing for non-prosecution include the expiry of any time prescribed under paragraph 8(2)(a) of that Schedule in consequence of which any such appeal would be required to be dismissed by a valuation and community charge tribunal.

(4) A demand notice making provision for the recovery of a penalty which is subject to appeal or arbitration may not be issued under paragraph (1)(a) during the period that the appeal or arbitration concerned is outstanding; and where a penalty becomes subject to appeal or arbitration after the issue of a demand notice which makes such provision, such proportion of the instalments due under it as are attributable to the penalty shall not fall due until the appeal or arbitration is finally disposed of, abandoned or fails for non-prosecution.

(5) Where an amount has been paid by a person in respect of a penalty which is quashed under paragraph 1(8) or 2(12) of Schedule 3 to the Act, the charging authority which, or whose registration officer, imposed the penalty may allow the amount to him by way of deduction against any other sum which has become due from him under this Part (whether in respect of another penalty or otherwise); and any balance shall be repaid to him.

(6) Paragraphs (1) to (5) apply to penalties incurred under paragraph 2(8) to (11) of Schedule 3 to the Act before 1st April 1990 notwithstanding that no liability to pay amounts in respect of community charges arises before that date.