Section 237A: Fixed penalty notices, Local Government Act 1972

The Secretary of State may, in relation to England, by regulations prescribe classes of byelaws to which this section applies.

The regulations may prescribe a class of byelaws by reference, in particular, to one or more of the following—

the enactment under which byelaws are made,

the subject-matter of byelaws,

the authority by whom byelaws are made,

the authority or person by whom byelaws are confirmed.

Where—

an authorised officer of an authority which has made a byelaw to which this section applies has reason to believe that a person has committed an offence against the byelaw, or

an authorised officer of a parish council has reason to believe that a person has in its area committed an offence against a byelaw to which this section applies made by an authority other than the parish council,

the officer may give that person a notice offering him the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for the offence by payment of a fixed penalty.

A fixed penalty notice under this section is payable to the authority whose officer gave the notice.

Where a person is given a notice under this section in respect of an offence—

no proceedings may be instituted for the offence before the end of the period of fourteen days following the date of the notice, and

he may not be convicted of the offence if he pays the fixed penalty before the end of that period.

A notice under this section must give such particulars of the circumstances alleged to constitute the offence as are necessary for giving reasonable information about the offence.

A notice under this section must also state—

the period during which, by virtue of subsection (5), proceedings will not be taken for the offence,

the amount of the fixed penalty, and

the person to whom and the address at which the fixed penalty may be paid.

Without prejudice to payment by any other method, payment of the fixed penalty may be made by pre-paying and posting a letter containing the amount of the penalty (in cash or otherwise) to the person mentioned in subsection (7)(c) at the address so mentioned.

Where a letter is sent in accordance with subsection (8) payment is to be regarded as having been made at the time at which that letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

The form of a notice under this section may be specified in regulations under subsection (1).

In any proceedings a certificate which—

purports to be signed on behalf of the chief finance officer of an authority, and

states that payment of a fixed penalty was or was not received by a date specified in the certificate,

is evidence of the facts stated.

In this section—

"authorised officer", in relation to an authority, means—
(a)an employee of the authority who is authorised in writing by the authority for the purpose of giving notices under this section,
(b)any person who, in pursuance of arrangements made with the authority, has the function of giving such notices and is authorised in writing by the authority to perform the function, and
(c)any employee of such a person who is authorised in writing by the authority for the purpose of giving such notices,
"chief finance officer", in relation to an authority, means the person having responsibility for the financial affairs of the authority.

Regulations under subsection (1) may prescribe conditions to be satisfied by a person before a parish council may authorise him in writing for the purpose of giving notices under this section.

Section 237A: Fixed penalty notices

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