Where on any occasion an authorised officer of a litter authority finds a person who he has reason to believe has on that occasion committed an offence under section 87 above in the area of that authority, he may give that person a notice offering him the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for that offence by payment of a fixed penalty.
Where a person is given a notice under this section in respect of an offence—
A notice under this section shall give such particulars of the circumstances alleged to constitute the offence as are necessary for giving reasonable information of the offence and shall state—
and, without prejudice to payment by any other method, payment of the fixed penalty may be made by pre-paying and posting to that person at that address a letter containing the amount of the penalty (in cash or otherwise).
Where a letter is sent in accordance with subsection (3) above payment shall 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 notices under this section shall be such as the Secretary of State may by order prescribe.
The fixed penalty payable in pursuance of a notice under this section is payable to the litter authority whose authorised officer gave the notice.
The amount of a fixed penalty payable in pursuance of a notice under this section—
The reference in subsection (6A) above to a principal litter authority does not include an English county council for an area for which there is also a district council.
The litter authority to which a fixed penalty is payable under this section may make provision for treating it as having been paid if a lesser amount is paid before the end of a period specified by the authority.
In any proceedings a certificate which—
shall be evidence of the facts stated.
If an authorised officer of a litter authority proposes to give a person a notice under this section, the officer may require the person to give him his name and address.
A person commits an offence if—
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (8B) above is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
For the purposes of this section the following are "litter authorities"—
In this section—
"authorised officer", in relation to a litter 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 that 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 a litter authority, means the person having responsibility for the financial affairs of the authority;
. . .
. . .
"proper officer" means the officer who has, as respects the authority, the responsibility mentioned in section 95 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (financial administration).
The appropriate person may by regulations provide that—
Regulations under subsection (11) may make different provision for different cases.
Before making regulations under subsection (11), the appropriate person must consult such persons as the appropriate person thinks appropriate.