Part 2: The Regulator and its functions Enforcement Section 24: Provision of false or misleading information to the regulator Effect
This section sets out the criminal offence of providing false or misleading information, in the circumstances described in subsection (1)(a)-(c), to the Building Safety Regulator. As with the previous section, this offence is designed to protect the effective functioning and decision-making of the Building Safety Regulator.
	This section sets out that providing false or misleading information is triable in either a magistrates’ or the Crown court; the broad range of sentencing outcomes gives the courts options to address the different degrees of culpability possible with an offence where the mental element includes both intent and recklessness and the offence covers both false and misleading information. A person deliberately providing false information is different from a person providing misleading information, so the sentencing options available need to be equally disparate. If tried in a magistrates’ court, the offence will carry a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine and/or the maximum term of imprisonment permitted in a magistrates’ court as defined in section 29(1), i.e. 12 months (six months until the commencement of paragraph 24(2) of Schedule 22 to the Sentencing Act 2020). If tried in the Crown court, the maximum penalty will be an unlimited fine and/or two years’ imprisonment.