Prices Act 1974

Section 7.

SCHEDULE U.K. Enforcement

Food subsidiesU.K.

1U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

2U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F2

F33U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F3Sch. para. 3 omitted (1.10.2015) by virtue of Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 100(5), Sch. 6 para. 11(2); S.I. 2015/1630, art. 3(i) (with art. 8)

4U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F4

Price regulation, price marking and price range noticesU.K.

5(1)Any person who contravenes an order under section F5... 4 F5... of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable—U.K.

(a)on conviction on indictment, to a fine;

(b)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £400.

F6(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3)Section 23 of the M1Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (offences due to fault of other person) and section 24(1) and (2) of that Act (defence of mistake, accident, etc.) shall have effect in relation to an offence in respect of an order under section 4 of this Act as they have effect in relation to an offence under that Act.

Textual Amendments

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

Marginal Citations

6U.K.It shall be the duty of every local weights and measures authority to enforce within their area any such order as is mentioned in paragraph 5(1) above.

F77U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

8(1)Proceedings for an offence under paragraph 5 above shall not be instituted except by or on behalf of a local weights and measures authority.U.K.

(2)Proceedings for any such offence shall not be instituted—

(a)unless there has been served on the person charged a notice in writing of the date and nature of the offence alleged, being (except where he is a street trader) a notice served before the expiration of the period of thirty days beginning with that date; or

(b)after the expiration of the period of three months beginning with that date.

(3)Such a notice as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (2)(a) above may be served on any person [F8

(a)if the proceedings are to be instituted in England and Wales, in accordance with Criminal Procedure Rules; or

(b)otherwise,] either by serving it on him personally or by sending it to him by post at his usual or last known residence or place of business in the United Kingdom or, in the case of a company, at the company’s registered office.

[F9(3A)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (3)(a)—

(a)Criminal Procedure Rules (as they have effect from time to time) apply to the notice as if it were a document to be served in criminal proceedings before a magistrates’ court, and

(b)any magistrates’ court may discharge functions conferred on a court by those Rules in relation to such service.]

(4)Sub-paragraph (1) above does not apply to Scotland.

F109U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F1110U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F1211U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

Restriction on disclosure of informationU.K.

F1312U.K.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Offences by bodies corporateU.K.

13U.K.Where an offence under this Schedule committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Northern IrelandU.K.

14(1)In the application of this Schedule to Northern Ireland for any reference to a local weights and measures authority there shall be substituted a reference to the Department of Commerce for Northern Ireland F14....U.K.

(2)F15... in paragraph 12(2)(b) above references to a Minister of the Crown include references to a Northern Ireland department and the head of a Northern Ireland department.

Textual Amendments

F15Words in Sch. para. 14(2) repealed (22.7.2004) by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2004 (c. 14), Sch. 1 Pt. 16 Group 2

[F1615U.K.For the investigatory powers available to a local weights and measures authority or the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland for the purposes of the duty in paragraph 6, see Schedule 5 to the Consumer Rights Act 2015.]

Textual Amendments