Introduction to penalties

Contents: This section of the SSRO's guidance introduces penalties and sets out when the guidance applies.

1.

About this guidance

1.1

Sections 33(3) and (4) of the Defence Reform Act (the “Act”) provide for the publication by the SSRO of guidance on determining the amount of a penalty, stating that:

1.2

In determining the amount of a penalty, the Secretary of State must have regard to guidance issued by the SSRO. The SSRO must publish guidance issued under subsection (3) in such a manner as it thinks appropriate.

1.3

This document does not provide guidance on any cases where the amount of penalty is to be calculated as if the contravention were a breach of contract (and is to be calculated in accordance with the general law of contract having effect in England and Wales). [Refer: section 33(2)]

2.

Application of this Guidance

2.1

This is statutory guidance issued by the SSRO under Section 33(3) of the Act. It applies to all qualifying defence contracts and qualifying sub-contracts.

2.2

The Secretary of State may issue a person a penalty notice [Refer: section 32] , where the person has contravened Section 31 and:

  1. has failed, without reasonable excuse, to take the steps specified in a compliance notice issued by the Secretary of State, or
  2. the Secretary of State does not consider there are steps that can be taken to remedy the contravention.

2.3

The Secretary of State must have regard to this guidance when determining the amount of a penalty.

Note: The annotations on this page are applied to underlying text taken from the SSRO's penalty guidance, available at ssro.gov.uk. Errors or ommisions can occur, or updates may not be reflected. Always check the source document.