This Schedule inserts a new Schedule 5A into NRSWA1991 which makes provisions about the monetary penalties for non-compliance with the requirements to pay a fee and provide information set out in Part 3A of that Act. The penalty scheme is intended to be a simple and effective approach which can easily be applied in practice.
	Paragraph 1(1) confers a power on the Secretary of State to issue a "penalty notice" where a person has failed to comply with a requirement to pay a fee in accordance with regulations under section 106E(1), or failed to provide information in accordance with regulations under section 106F(1) or (2). A notice can also be issued where such information is either misleading or false.
	The Secretary of State will have discretion over whether to impose a penalty. There will also be a requirement for a "warning notice" to be given to the person concerned where the imposition of a penalty is being proposed, together with provision for a period during which written representations can be made. Thereafter the Secretary of State has six months within which a "penalty notice" can be given to the person. Among other things, a penalty notice must state the amount of the penalty.
	Paragraph 1(2) in Schedule 5A empowers the Secretary of State to set out, in regulations, the amount of any penalty to be imposed. Should any person then be in breach of a relevant requirement, and the Secretary of State is considering the imposition of a monetary penalty, the amount of such a penalty will be that which is already provided for in existing regulations. The Secretary of State may not give more than one penalty notice to a person in respect of the same breach of the relevant requirement.
	Paragraph 4 of Schedule 5A makes provision for the enforcement of the penalty notice. Paragraph 5 sets out a person’s right of appeal against the penalty notice (or any requirement of it); such an appeal can be made to the First-tier Tribunal on any of the grounds set out in paragraph 5(2). Further provision is also made as to the Tribunal’s powers in respect of such an appeal and the effect of the Tribunal’s decision.
Schedules Schedule 1: National Underground Asset Register (England and Wales): monetary penalties