Localism Act 2011

54 Warning notices

(1) Before a public authority which has been designated under section 52 can be required to make any payment under this Part in respect of an EU financial sanction to which the designation applies—

(a) a Minister of the Crown must give a warning notice under this section to the public authority;

(b) the procedures set out in the warning notice (with any changes made under subsection (9)) must be followed; and

(c) a Minister of the Crown must determine the matters mentioned in section 55(4).

(2) A warning notice is a notice stating that a Minister of the Crown, having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice imposing the EU financial sanction, believes—

(a) that acts of the authority may have caused or contributed to the infraction of EU law for which the EU financial sanction was imposed, and

(b) that, if acts of the authority did cause or contribute to that infraction of EU law, it would be appropriate to consider requiring the authority to make payments under this Part (which may be or include ongoing payments) in respect of the EU financial sanction.

(3) The warning notice must also—

(a) identify the EU financial sanction to which the notice relates;

(b) specify the total amount of that sanction (see subsection (7));

(c) if that sanction is or includes a penalty payment, specify the amount and frequency of any periodic payments that fall due from the United Kingdom under the terms of the penalty payment (see subsection (8));

(d) set out the reasons for making the statement required by subsection (2);

(e) set out the proposed procedures and arrangements for determining the matters mentioned in section 55(4) (which may include arrangements for securing that matters arising under the notice are dealt together with matters arising under other warning notices given to other public authorities in respect of the same EU financial sanction);

(f) propose a timetable for those procedures and for any steps to be taken by the panel or a Minister of the Crown before any requirement to make a payment can be imposed on the authority;

(g) invite the authority to make representations to a Minister of the Crown about the matters mentioned in paragraphs (e) and (f);

(h) invite the authority to make representations to the panel (with any supporting evidence) about anything the authority considers relevant to the matters mentioned in section 55(4), including its response to any representations made (and any supporting evidence submitted) to the panel —

(i) by a Minister of the Crown or a government department (whether in relation to matters arising from the notice or matters arising from any other warning notice given to another public authority in relation to the same EU financial sanction);

(ii) by another public authority which has been given a warning notice in relation to the same EU financial sanction; or

(iii) by the appropriate national authority in response to an invitation under paragraph (j) included in the notice; and

(j) if the authority has mixed functions, invite the appropriate national authority to make representations about anything contained in or arising from the notice.

(4) The warning notice may contain other such information as the Minister of the Crown giving it considers appropriate.

(5) Before a Minister of the Crown gives a warning notice to the authority, the Minister of the Crown must consult the panel as to the contents of the notice (including in particular the proposed procedures and timetable mentioned in subsection (3)(e) and (f)).

(6) If the authority has mixed functions, a Minister of the Crown must—

(a) consult the appropriate national authority before deciding to give a warning notice to the authority; and

(b) give the appropriate national authority a copy of any warning notice the Minister of the Crown decides to give.

(7) In subsection (3)(b) the “total amount of the sanction” means the sum of the following—

(a) the amount of the lump sum (if any) due from the United Kingdom under the terms of the EU financial sanction (disregarding any amount that falls to be excluded from the lump sum by virtue of section 50(2)); and

(b) the total amount of the periodic payments (if any) which have fallen due from the United Kingdom on or before a day specified in the notice (disregarding any amount that falls to be excluded from any of those payments by virtue of section 50(2));

and the day specified for the purposes of paragraph (b) must be no later than the day on which the warning notice is given to the authority.

(8) The periodic payments to be taken into account for the purposes of subsection (3)(c) do not include—

(a) any periodic payment taken into account in calculating the total amount of the sanction for the purposes of subsection (3)(b); or

(b) any periodic payment, or any part of a periodic payment, that falls to be excluded from the EU financial sanction by virtue of section 50(2).

(9) A Minister of the Crown may, after considering any representations made by the authority under subsection (3)(g) but before the matters mentioned in section 55(4) are determined, give the authority—

(a) a notice stating any changes that the Minister has decided to make to the procedures or timetable as originally set out in the warning notice under subsection (3)(e) and (f); and

(b) a copy of the warning notice incorporating those changes.

(10) A Minister of the Crown must consult the panel before making any changes under subsection (9).

(11) A warning notice given to a public authority may be withdrawn at any time before the matters mentioned in section 55(4) are determined, but this does not prevent another warning notice being given to the authority in relation to the same EU financial sanction.

(12) In this section and section 55 “the panel” means the panel established under section 53 to deal with the EU financial sanction to which the notice relates.