Enforcement
Section 42: Fines: increases and duty of court in determining amount
218.Section 42 of the Act sets out increases in the levels of maximum fine that may be imposed by the courts on conviction for various planning offences and, for certain offences, introduces a requirement for the courts to take account of financial benefit when setting amounts of fines.
219.Subsection (2) makes provision that the maximum penalties for non-compliance with a planning contravention notice set out in sections 126(4) and 126(6) of the 1997 Act are increased. Where the offence is failure to comply with the requirements of a planning contravention notice within 21 days of the date of service, the maximum penalty on summary conviction is increased by section 42(2)(a) of the Act from level three on the standard scale to level five on the standard scale. Where the offence is to knowingly or recklessly make a false or misleading statement in response to a planning contravention notice, the maximum penalty on summary conviction is increased by section 42(2)(b) of the Act from level five on the standard scale to the statutory maximum.
220.Subsection (3) provides that the maximum penalty on summary conviction for the offence of failure to comply with an enforcement notice, set out in section 136(8)(a) of the 1997 Act, increases from £20,000 to £50,000.
221.Subsection (4) relates to an offence where buildings or works have been removed in order to comply with an enforcement notice and subsequently reinstated at a later date (section 138(4) of the 1997 Act). The maximum penalty on summary conviction for this offence is increased from level five on the standard scale to the statutory maximum. Paragraph (b) inserts new section 138(5) which provides that, when a person is convicted of such an offence, the court is to have regard to any financial benefit or likely financial benefit that the convicted person may accrue in consequence of the activity which constituted the offence. This is intended to help ensure that the fine is set at a level that is a genuine deterrent.
222.Subsection (5) increases the maximum penalty on summary conviction for contravention of a stop notice, set out in section 144(5)(a) of the 1997 Act, from £20,000 to £50,000. Subsection (6) similarly increases the maximum penalty for contravention of a temporary stop notice to the same amount (section 144C(6)(a) of the 1997 Act).
223.Subsection (7) provides that the maximum penalty on conviction for the offence of not complying with a breach of condition notice, set out in section 145(12) of the 1997 Act, is increased from level three on the standard scale to level five on the standard scale. Paragraph (b) inserts new section 145(12A) which provides that, when a person is convicted of such an offence, the court is to have regard to any financial benefit or likely financial benefit that the convicted person may accrue in consequence of the activity which constituted the offence. This is intended to help ensure that the fine is set at a level that is a genuine deterrent.
224.Subsection (8) provides that the maximum penalty on summary conviction for the offence of displaying an advertisement in contravention of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984 as amended (or any replacement regulations) increases from level three on the standard scale to level five on the standard scale. In the case of a continuing offence, the penalty increases from one-tenth of level three on the standard scale to one-tenth of level five on the standard scale for each day the offence continues after conviction.
225.‘The standard scale’ refers to the standard scale set out in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Level three is currently set at £1,000 and level five currently at £5,000 (see section 225(2) of that Act). ‘The statutory maximum’ is also set out in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, as amended, and is currently set at £10,000 (see section 225(8) of that Act, as read with the definition of “statutory maximum” in schedule 1 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010).
Section 43: Liability for expenses under enforcement notice
226.Section 43 of the Act amends section 135 of the 1997 Act and inserts new sections 158B to 158F into the 1997 Act to extend liability for the cost of direct action taken under section 135(1) of the 1997 Act in connection with an enforcement notice in order to remedy a breach of planning control, and to introduce powers for planning authorities to make charging orders to assist the recovery of those costs.
227.Section 43(2)(a) of the Act amends section 135(1)(b) of the 1997 Act to the effect that liability for the cost of direct action attaches to any person who is then or who subsequently becomes the owner of the land or any part of the land, whether or not that person remains an owner. This extension of the existing rule (that is, the addition of subsequent owners) will only apply to expenses for which an owner becomes liable on or after the date on which section 43 comes into force (see subsection (5)). Liability also attaches, just as it does under the existing provisions of the 1997 Act, to any lessee of the land at the time that the planning authority carry out the work, but that liability does not transmit under the statute to future lessees. Section 43(2)(b) and (c) of the Act together provide that an owner, lessee or occupier can recover any sums paid from the person who committed the breach of planning control, and can do so regardless of whether or not that person remains the owner, lessee or occupier.
228.Section 43(3) inserts new sections into the 1997 Act. New section 158B(1) sets out that where a planning authority or the Scottish Ministers (“the charging body”) have taken action in relation to land under section 135(1), they may make a charging order and apply to register it against the land with Registers of Scotland.
229.New section 158B(2) sets out that once a charging order is registered, the amount payable under section 135(1)(b) of the 1997 Act (i.e. the costs of direct action taken by the planning authority or the Scottish Ministers) becomes payable in instalments instead and can include administrative expenses and, where the charging order provides for it, interest charges. New section 158B(3) sets out what the administrative expenses and interest may cover.
230.Under new section 158C, the charging order must set out the number of instalments in which the total amount is to be paid and the date on which each instalment falls due. The date on which the first instalment is due must be at least 56 days after the date on which the charging order is served, and the number of annual instalments must be between three and 30. New section 158C(3) provides that the charging order may be paid off at any time, either in full or as a lower sum agreed with the charging body. New section 158C(4) establishes that the charging body may at any time waive or reduce the amount payable.
231.New section 158D sets out that a charging order may not be registered unless it is in the form prescribed by the Scottish Ministers in regulations. New section 158D(2) lists information that the regulations must require a charging order to contain. New section 158D(3) requires the charging body to serve a copy of the order on the owner of the land to which it relates.
232.New section 158E requires the charging body to register the discharge of a charging order in the appropriate land register as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving payment in full of the required amount. As with the original order, a discharge of a charging order may not be registered unless it is in the form prescribed.
233.New section 158F provides definitions of various terms in the other inserted sections.
234.Section 43(4) of the Act ensures that the rules in the 1997 Act dealing with restrictions on the display of advertisements can also apply the new provisions on charging orders to liabilities arising under those rules. The rules on display of advertisements are dealt with in section 186 of the 1997 Act and the current position is to allow the rules relating to enforcement notices to be applied with modifications.
235.Section 43(5) provides that the charging order provisions, as well as the amendments to section 135 of the 1997 Act, only apply to liabilities incurred after the date that section 43 comes into force.
Section 44: Enforcement charters: statement on major developments
236.Section 158A of the 1997 Act requires each planning authority to produce an enforcement charter, setting out their policies on enforcement, how breaches of planning control can be brought to their attention and how any complaints about enforcement action can be made and will be dealt with. Section 44 of the Act inserts a new subsection (1A) into section 158A of the 1997 Act, providing that the charter must also contain a statement about how the authority will monitor compliance with planning permissions for major developments, and how they will record such monitoring and make the records available to the public. Such monitoring is particularly important in relation to conditions placed on ongoing operations and restoration, such as for open-cast mining.