The Magistrates' Courts (Unit Fines) Rules 1992

Rule 4

SCHEDULE 2 DETERMINATION OF OFFENDER'S NET WEEKLY INCOME AND APPROPRIATE EXPENDITURE LEVEL

1.  In these Rules the “net weekly income” of an offender means that offender’s weekly income (including income from overtime, commissions and bonuses) less—

(a) any tax payable on that income;

(b) any contributions payable by him under the Social Security Acts 1975—1988; and

(c) the amount of any contribution paid by him, whether under a legal obligation or not, to an occupational pension scheme within the meaning of the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 or to a personal pension scheme within the meaning of the Social Security Act 1986.

2.  The magistrates for each petty sessions area shall, from time to time and at least once a year, taking into account local conditions, determine amounts that appear to them to represent the reasonable weekly expenditure of households in their petty sessions area, on the items specified in column 2 below, in respect of the members of such households specified in column 1 below, in this Schedule referred to as “deemed expenditure levels ”.

Column 1	Column 2
Member of household	Items of expenditure
OFFENDER	Food
	Heating
	Housing costs
	Community charge
	Water rates
	Clothing
	Travel to work
SPOUSE/COHABITEE	Food
	Community charge
	Clothing
ADULT DEPENDANTS/CHILDREN	Food
	Clothing

3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, in these Rules “the appropriate expenditure level ” for an offender shall be an amount that is the sum of the deemed expenditure levels for his household.

(2) The amount determined by the court under paragraph (1) above shall be—

(a) reduced to take account of expenditure on the other members of the offender’s household which is met out of those members' incomes, and of exceptionally low expenditure on housing; and

(b) increased to take account of the offender’s maintenance payments and, where the court thinks fit, of the offender’s exceptional expenditure.