Section 16 – Litter offence: fixed penalty notice
This section amends Article 6 of the Litter Order (fixed penalty notices). Subsection (2) amends Article 6 to enable a district council to specify the amount of fixed penalty to be applied in its district; where the council sets no such amount the fixed penalty shall be £75. Powers set out in Article 18A (introduced by section 22) of the Litter Order enable the Department to make regulations to set a minimum and maximum range within which the fixed penalty amount can be set. The district council to which a fixed penalty is payable may provide for treating it as having been paid if a lesser amount is paid before the end of such (shorter) period as it may specify.
Subsection (3) provides that in determining whether to give a person a fixed penalty under Article 6 of the Litter Order an authorised officer must have regard to a code of practice issued by the Department as for the time being in force.
Subsection (4) inserts a definition of an “authorised officer” which allows district councils to authorise individuals other than their own employees to issue fixed penalty notices on their behalf.