The Environmental Offences (Fixed Penalties) (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2007

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

The Regulations prescribe the ranges within which the amounts of certain fixed penalties that are capable of being specified (in place of the amount prescribed in the relevant legislation) by a local authority (as variously described in the relevant legislation) are required to fall (regulation 2).

The Regulations also prescribe the minimum amount of fixed penalty that a local authority may (if it chooses to do so) treat as full payment of the fixed penalty where a lesser amount than the full prescribed amount (whether this is the amount specified by the local authority, or the amount prescribed in the relevant legislation) is paid within such period of less than 14 days as may be specified by the local authority in the notice (regulation 3).

Accordingly, in respect of a notice of a fixed penalty that is capable of being issued for certain offences for which the amount prescribed in the relevant legislation is £75, the Regulations prescribe that the range within which a local authority may choose to specify its own locally applicable amount is between £75 and £150 (regulation 2(1)). If a local authority decides to treat a lesser sum paid within a specified period as full payment of the fixed penalty, the Regulations provide that that lesser sum must not be less than £50 (regulation 3(1)).

In respect of certain other offences, for which the amount of fixed penalty prescribed in the relevant legislation is £100, the Regulations prescribe that the range within which a local authority may choose to specify its own locally applicable amount is between £100 and £150 (regulation 2(2)). In respect of any of those offences, if a local authority decides to treat a lesser sum paid within a specified period as full payment of the fixed penalty, the Regulations provide that that lesser sum shall not be less than £60 (regulation 3(2)(a), (b) and (c)).

In respect of other offences, for which the amounts of fixed penalty prescribed in the relevant legislation are, respectively, £100, £200 and £300 (but in each case with no facility for an authority to specify a different locally applicable amount), an authority may still decide to treat a lesser sum paid within a specified period as full payment of the fixed penalty, and the Regulations provide that those lesser sums shall not be less than £60 (regulation 3(2)(d)), £120 (regulation 3(3)) or £180 (regulation 3(4)), respectively.

The Regulations also prescribe the condition that must be satisfied before a person may be authorised by a community council for the purposes of giving a fixed penalty notice under section 88 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43), section 43(1) of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (c. 38) or section 59 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (c. 16). The condition is that a person must successfully complete a fixed penalty training course (regulation 4).

The Regulations also provide that a community council may use any amounts it receives in pursuance of notices issued under—

(a) section 88 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (litter);

(b) section 43(1) of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (graffiti and fly-posting); and

(c) section 59 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (dog control orders),

for the purposes of its functions under those sections and, in relation to dog control orders, for the purposes of its functions under Chapter 1 of Part 6 of the 2005 Act (regulation 5(1) and (2)).

Regulation 5(3) requires community councils to supply the National Assembly for Wales with such information in relation to their fixed penalty receipts as the National Assembly for Wales may require.