4.—(1) A litter authority may give a penalty notice to a person who is the keeper of a vehicle if the condition in paragraph (3) is met.
(2) A penalty notice is a written notice requiring the person to pay a fixed penalty (see regulation 6).
(3) The condition is that the litter authority has reason to believe that a littering offence has been committed in respect of the vehicle on the authority’s land.
(4) The authority’s land is the land in respect of which the litter authority is under a duty under section 89(1) of the EPA 1990 (duty to keep land clear of litter etc.).
(5) A penalty notice must not be given—
(a)after the end of the period of 35 days beginning with the day on which the littering offence in question occurred,
(b)if a notice under section 88(1) of the EPA 1990 (which relates to fixed penalty notices for leaving litter) has been given to a person in respect of the same offence (whether or not the person is the vehicle’s keeper), or
(c)if a prosecution has been brought against a person under section 87 of the EPA 1990 (offence of littering) in respect of the same offence (whether or not the person is the vehicle’s keeper and whether or not the prosecution has concluded or was successful).
(6) A litter authority may cancel a penalty notice at any time by informing the recipient in writing.
(7) Part 3 (exemptions) sets out circumstances in which a person is not liable to pay a fixed penalty.
5.—(1) A penalty notice must state—
(a)the circumstances alleged to constitute the littering offence in question, including the registration mark (if known) of the vehicle concerned,
(b)the fixed penalty payment period,
(c)the amount of the fixed penalty if paid within that period (see regulation 6(1) and (2));
(d)that the amount of the fixed penalty increases by 100% if not paid within that period (see regulation 6(3)),
(e)that the litter authority may recover any fixed penalty not paid within the fixed penalty payment period in court (see regulation 7),
(f)any lesser amount (see regulation 6(6)),
(g)the date by which the lesser amount must be paid in order for it to be treated as discharging the liability to pay the fixed penalty,
(h)the name and address of the person to whom the fixed penalty must be paid and the permissible methods of payment,
(i)that the person to whom the notice is addressed has a right to make representations to the litter authority (see regulation 14),
(j)the grounds on which, and the manner in which, representations may be made and the date by which they must be made (see regulation 14), and
(k)in general terms, the form and manner in which an appeal to an adjudicator may be made.
(2) In paragraph (1)(a), “registration mark” has the meaning given by section 23 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994(1).
6.—(1) The amount of a fixed penalty is the amount specified by the litter authority under section 88(6A)(a) of the EPA 1990 (which relates to fixed penalty notices for leaving litter)(2).
(2) But if no amount is specified by the litter authority under that provision, the amount of the fixed penalty is £100.
(3) If a fixed penalty is not paid in full within the fixed penalty payment period, the amount of the fixed penalty increases by 100% with effect from the day after the last day of the fixed penalty payment period.
(4) The fixed penalty payment period is (except in the circumstances described in paragraph (5))—
(a)in a case where the person does not make any representations under regulation 14, the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the penalty notice is given, or
(b)in a case where the person makes representations and the litter authority gives a notice of rejection (see regulation 15(3) to (5)) to the person, the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the litter authority gives the notice of rejection.
(5) Where the person makes an appeal to an adjudicator under regulation 16, the fixed penalty payment period is—
(a)the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which that appeal is dismissed or withdrawn, or
(b)if a recommendation is made that the penalty notice is cancelled and the litter authority refuses to accept the recommendation (see regulations 16(7) and 17(3)), the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the person is informed of the refusal under regulation 17(3).
(6) An authority may make provision for treating the amount in paragraph (1) or (2) as having been paid in full if a lesser amount is paid within the following period.
(7) The period is the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which the penalty notice is given.
(8) The lesser amount must not be less than £50.
(9) A fixed penalty is taken to be paid when it is received by the litter authority.
7.—(1) This regulation applies where a litter authority has given a person a penalty notice and the person has not paid the fixed penalty in full within the fixed penalty payment period.
(2) The litter authority may recover any unpaid amount of the fixed penalty (being the increased amount referred to in regulation 6(3)) and any related costs awarded by an adjudicator—
(a)as a civil debt, or
(b)as if payable under a county court order, if the county court so orders.
(3) In paragraph (2), “costs awarded by an adjudicator” means the costs and expenses which are required to be paid to the litter authority under an order under paragraph 13 of the Schedule to the RUCS Regulations 2013 as it applies to these Regulations by virtue of regulation 19.
8.—(1) This regulation applies to the giving of notices under these Regulations by a litter authority to any person.
(2) A notice may be given to the person by—
(a)handing it to the person,
(b)leaving it at the person’s proper address,
(c)sending it by post to the person at that address, or
(d)sending it to the person by electronic means in accordance with paragraph (9).
(3) Unless the contrary is proved—
(a)a notice sent by first class post to an address in the United Kingdom is to be treated as having been given on the second working day after the day on which it was posted;
(b)a notice sent by first class post to an address outside the United Kingdom is to be treated as having been given on the fifth working day after the day on which it was posted;
(c)a notice sent by electronic means is to be treated as having been given on the working day immediately following the day on which it was sent.
(4) A notice to a body corporate may be given to a director or to the secretary or clerk of that body.
(5) A notice to a partnership may be given to a partner or a person who has the control or management of the partnership business.
(6) For the purposes of this regulation and of section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (service of documents by post)(3) in its application to this regulation, the proper address of a person is—
(a)in the case of a body corporate or a director, secretary or clerk of a body corporate, the address of the body’s registered or principal office;
(b)in the case of a partnership, partner or person having the control or management of the partnership business, the address of the partnership’s principal office;
(c)in any other case, the person’s last known address.
(7) Where a company registered outside the United Kingdom, or a partnership carrying on business outside the United Kingdom, has a principal office within the United Kingdom, its principal office is that office.
(8) If a person has informed the litter authority in writing of an address in the United Kingdom, other than the person’s proper address within the meaning of paragraph (6), as the one at which the person or someone on the person’s behalf will accept notices of the same description as a notice under these Regulations, that address is treated for the purposes of this regulation and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 as the person’s proper address.
(9) A notice may be sent to a person by electronic means only if—
(a)the person has informed the litter authority that notices of that description may be given to the person by being sent to an electronic address and in an electronic form specified for that purpose, and
(b)the notice is sent to that address in that form.
(10) In this regulation—
“electronic address” means any number or address used for the purposes of sending or receiving documents or information by electronic means;
“working day” means a day other than—
Saturday or Sunday,
Christmas Day or Good Friday, or
a day which is a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(4) in England and Wales.
9.—(1) Where a litter authority cancels or is deemed to have cancelled a penalty notice under these Regulations, the authority must as soon as practicable refund any amount paid in respect of the notice.
(2) But paragraph (1) does not apply where an adjudicator has—
(a)given directions to a litter authority requiring the cancellation of a penalty notice under regulation 16(6), and
(b)the directions include directions about the refund of any amount paid in respect of the penalty notice.
(3) A cancellation or deemed cancellation of a penalty notice does not prevent the litter authority which gave the notice from giving a further penalty notice in respect of the same littering offence (whether to the same or another person).
10.—(1) A litter authority may authorise a person (an “authorised officer”) to perform on its behalf any of the functions conferred on it by regulation 4 (penalty notices).
(2) The authorisation must be in writing.
11. Sums received by a litter authority under these Regulations may be used by the authority for the purposes of any of its functions which are—
(a)listed in section 96(4)(a) to (c) of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005(5), or
(b)specified in regulations under section 96(4)(d) of that Act.
Section 88(6A) was inserted by section 19(2) of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (c.16).