Determination of level of civil penalty to be applied
The statutory guidance details the factors that must be considered when determining the level of civil penalty to be applied. The council has developed a matrix (Appendix 1) from this guidance having considered the following:
- level of culpability
- level of harm
- severity of the offence
- aggravating factors
- mitigating factors
- penalty to be fair and reasonable
- penalty to be a deterrent and remove the gain derived through the failure to comply
- landlord's financial circumstances (as appropriate)\
- financial gain from failure to comply
Determination of the level of civil penalty to be applied will be on a case-by-case basis and have regard to the Environment and Regulatory Services Enforcement policy, local circumstances, and the relevant statutory guidance.
Each of the rows in the matrix considers the factors set out in the guidance. At the end of every row the officer will have to justify the most appropriate score chosen based on evidence in each case. The final total of the scores from each of the 4 rows determines the actual fee to be applied.
Officers using the matrix will at no point be setting the penalty amount themselves as it is calculated by the matrix, dependent on their assessment and scores in each of the 4 rows.
The fee to be applied from the total calculated in the matrix is detailed in this table.
| Score range across all 4 dimensions | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1 - 5 | £1,000 |
| 6 - 10 | £1,500 |
| 11 - 20 | £2,500 |
| 21 - 30 | £3,500 |
| 31 - 40 | £5,000 |
| 41 - 50 | £8,000 |
| 51 - 60 | £12,000 |
| 61 - 70 | £16,000 |
| 71 - 80 | £20,000 |
| 81 - 90 | £25,000 |
| 91 - 100 | £30,000 |
For example: a matrix total of 17 would result in a penalty of £2,500, a score of 55 would result in a penalty of £12,000 etc.