Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

• (3) In the preceding subsection, any reference to a Minister of the Crown or the Executive includes respectively a reference to an officer of that person or of that body and also, in the case of a reference to the Executive, includes a reference to—

• (a) a person performing any functions of the Executive on its behalf by virtue of section 13(3);

• (b) an officer of a body which is so performing any such functions; and

• (c) an adviser appointed under section 13(7).

• (4) A person to whom information is disclosed in pursuance of subsection (2) above shall not use the information for a purpose other than a purpose ... of the Executive.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Restrictions on disclosure of information

28

• (1) In this and the two following subsections—

• (a) “relevant information” means information obtained by a person under section 27(1) or furnished to any person , other than the Office for Nuclear Regulation (or an inspector appointed by it), under section 27A above , by virtue of section 43A(6) below or in pursuance of a requirement imposed by any of the relevant statutory provisions; and

• (b) “the recipient”, in relation to any relevant information, means the person by whom that information was so obtained or to whom that information was so furnished, as the case may be.

• (2) Subject to the following subsection, no relevant information shall be disclosed without the consent of the person by whom it was furnished.

• (3) The preceding subsection shall not apply to—

• (a) disclosure of information to . . . the Executive , the Office for Nuclear Regulation,, the Environment Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, a government department or any enforcing authority;

• (b) without prejudice to paragraph (a) above, disclosure by the recipient of information to any person for the purpose of any function conferred on the recipient by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions;

• (c) without prejudice to paragraph (a) above, disclosure by the recipient of information to—

• (i) an officer of a local authority who is authorised by that authority to receive it,

• (ii) an officer . . . of a water undertaker, sewerage undertaker, water authority or water development board who is authorised by that . . . undertaker, authority or board to receive it,

• (iii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (iv) a constable authorised by a chief officer of police to receive it;

• (d) disclosure by the recipient of information in a form calculated to prevent it from being identified as relating to a particular person or case;

• (e) disclosure of information for the purposes of any legal proceedings or any investigation or inquiry held by virtue of section 14(2) or (2A), or for the purposes of a report of any such proceedings or inquiry or of a special report made by virtue of section 14(2) or (2A).

• (f) any other disclosure of information by the recipient, if–

• (i) the recipient is, or is acting on behalf of a person who is, a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and

• (ii) the information is not held by the authority on behalf of another person.

• (4) In the preceding subsection, any reference to the Executive , the Office for Nuclear Regulation,, the Environment Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, a government department or an enforcing authority includes respectively a reference to an officer of that body or authority (including, in the case of an enforcing authority, any inspector appointed by it), and also, in the case of a reference to the Executive or the Office for Nuclear Regulation, includes a reference to—

• (a) a person performing any functions of the Executive or Office for Nuclear Regulation on its behalf by virtue of section 13(3) of this Act or, as the case may be, section 95 of the Energy Act 2013;

• (b) an officer of a body which is so performing any such functions; and

• (c) an adviser appointed under section 13(7) or, in the case of the Office for Nuclear Regulation, a person providing advice to that body..

• (5) A person to whom information is disclosed in pursuance of any of paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (3) above shall not use the information for a purpose other than—

• (a) in a case falling within paragraph (a) of that subsection, a purpose . . . of the Executive , of the Office for Nuclear Regulation or of the Environment Agency or of the Natural Resources Body for Wales or of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency or of the government department in question, or the purposes of the enforcing authority in question in connection with the relevant statutory provisions, as the case may be;

• (b) in the case of information given to an officer of a body which is a local authority, . . . a water undertaker, a sewerage undertaker, a water authority, a river purification board or a water development board, the purposes of the body in connection with the relevant statutory provisions or any enactment whatsoever relating to public health, public safety or the protection of the environment;

• (c) in the case of information given to a constable, the purposes of the police in connection with the relevant statutory provisions or any enactment whatsoever relating to public health, public safety or the safety of the State.

• (6) References in subsections (3) and (5) above to a local authority include a corporate joint committee established by regulations under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, . . . a joint authority established by Part IV of the Local Government Act 1985, an economic prosperity board established under section 88 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, a combined authority established under section 103 of that Act , a combined county authority established under section 9(1) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, a fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 ... and the London Fire Commissioner.

• (7) A person shall not disclose any information obtained by him as a result of the exercise of any power conferred by section 14(4)(a) or 20 (including, in particular, any information with respect to any trade secret obtained by him in any premises entered by him by virtue of any such power) except—

• (a) for the purposes of his functions; or

• (b) for the purposes of any legal proceedings or any investigation or inquiry held by virtue of section 14(2) or (2A) or for the purposes of a report of any such proceedings or inquiry or of a special report made by virtue of section 14(2) or (2A); or

• (c) with the relevant consent.

In this subsection “the relevant consent” means, in the case of information furnished in pursuance of a requirement imposed under section 20, the consent of the person who furnished it, and, in any other case, the consent of a person having responsibilities in relation to the premises where the information was obtained.

• (8) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding subsection an inspector shall, in circumstances in which it is necessary to do so for the purpose of assisting in keeping persons (or the representatives of persons) employed at any premises adequately informed about matters affecting their health, safety and welfare, give to such persons or their representatives the following descriptions of information, that is to say—

• (a) factual information obtained by him as mentioned in that subsection which relates to those premises or anything which was or is therein or was or is being done therein; and

• (b) information with respect to any action which he has taken or proposes to take in or in connection with those premises in the performance of his functions;

and, where an inspector does as aforesaid, he shall give the like information to the employer of the first-mentioned persons.

• (9) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (7) above, a person who has obtained such information as is referred to in that subsection may furnish to a person who appears to him to be likely to be a party to any civil proceedings arising out of any accident, occurrence, situation or other matter, a written statement of relevant facts observed by him in the course of exercising any of the powers referred to in that subsection.

• (9A) Subsection (7) above does not apply if–

• (a) the person who has obtained any such information as is referred to in that subsection is, or is acting on behalf of a person who is, a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and

• (b) the information is not held by the authority on behalf of another person.

• (9B) Nothing in subsection (7) or (9) applies to a person appointed as an inspector by the Office for Nuclear Regulation in relation to functions which the person has by virtue of that appointment.

• (10) The Broads Authority and every National Park authority shall be deemed to be local authorities for the purposes of this section.

Special provisions relating to agriculture

General functions of Ministers responsible for agriculture in relation to the relevant agricultural purposes

29

Agricultural health and safety regulations

30

• (1) Regulations under this section (in this Part referred to as “ agricultural health and safety regulations ”) may be made for any of the relevant agricultural purposes.

• (2) Agricultural health and safety regulations may be either regulations applying to Great Britain and made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State acting jointly, or regulations applying to England and Wales only and made by the said Minister, or regulations applying to Scotland only and made by the Secretary of State.

• (3) Where health and safety regulations make provision for any purpose with respect to a matter that relates to (but not exclusively to) agricultural operations—

• (a) provision for that purpose shall not be made with respect to that matter by agricultural health and safety regulations so as to have effect while the first-mentioned provision is in force except for the purpose of imposing requirements additional to those imposed by health and safety regulations, being additional requirements which in the opinion of the authority making the agricultural health and safety regulations are necessary or expedient in the special circumstances of agricultural operations; and

• (b) in the event of any inconsistency between the first-mentioned provision and any provision made with respect to that matter by agricultural health and safety regulations, the first-mentioned provision shall prevail.

• (4) The provisions of section 15(2) to (10) and Schedule 3 shall have effect in relation to agricultural health and safety regulations as they have effect in relation to health and safety regulations subject to the following modifications, that is to say—

• (a) references to the relevant statutory provisions or the existing statutory provisions shall be read as references to such of those provisions as relate to agriculture;

• (b) in section 15(4) the references to the Commission shall be read as references to the appropriate Agriculture Minister;

• (c) in section 15(6) and (10) and paragraph 23 of Schedule 3, the reference to health and safety regulations shall be read as a reference to agricultural health and safety regulations.

• (5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, agricultural health and safety regulations may, as regards agricultural licences under any of the relevant statutory provisions, make provision for requiring the authority having power to issue, renew, vary, transfer or revoke such licences to notify—

• (a) any applicant for the issue, renewal, variation or transfer of such a licence of any proposed decision of the authority to refuse the application; or

• (b) the holder of such a licence of any proposed decision of the authority to revoke the licence or to vary any term, condition or restriction on or subject to which the licence is held;

and for enabling persons aggrieved by any such proposed decision to make representations to, or to a person appointed by, the relevant authority within the period and in the manner prescribed by the regulations.

• (6) In relation to any agricultural health and safety regulations made in pursuance of paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 as applied by this section, subsection (2) above shall have effect as if after the words “Great Britain” there were inserted the words “or the United Kingdom”.

Enforcement of the relevant statutory provisions in connection with agriculture

31

Application of provisions of this Part in connection with agriculture

32

• (1) The following provisions of this section shall have effect with a view to the application of certain provisions of this Part in relation to the Agriculture Ministers or matters relating exclusively to the relevant agricultural purposes.

• (2) Subject to the following subsection—

• (a) sections 13, 14, 17(3), 27 and 28 shall apply in relation to the appropriate Agriculture Minister as they apply in relation to the Commission ;

• (b) section 16 shall apply in relation to matters relating exclusively to the relevant agricultural purposes as it applies in relation to other matters.

• (3) In their application as provided by the preceding subsection, the provisions of this Part which are specified in the first column of Schedule 4 shall have effect subject to the modifications provided for in the second column of that Schedule.

Provisions as to offences

Offences

33

• (1) It is an offence for a person—

• (a) to fail to discharge a duty to which he is subject by virtue of sections 2 to 7;

• (b) to contravene section 8 or 9;

• (c) to contravene any health and safety regulations . . . or any requirement or prohibition imposed under any such regulations (including any requirement or prohibition to which he is subject by virtue of the terms of or any condition or restriction attached to any licence, approval, exemption or other authority issued, given or granted under the regulations);

• (d) to contravene any requirement imposed by or under regulations under section 14 or intentionally to obstruct any person in the exercise of his powers under that section;

• (e) to contravene any requirement imposed by an inspector under section 20 or 25;

• (f) to prevent or attempt to prevent any other person from appearing before an inspector or from answering any question to which an inspector may by virtue of section 20(2) require an answer;

• (g) to contravene any requirement or prohibition imposed by an improvement notice or a prohibition notice (including any such notice as modified on appeal);

• (h) intentionally to obstruct an inspector in the exercise or performance of his powers or duties or to obstruct a customs officer in the exercise of his powers under section 25A;

• (i) to contravene any requirement imposed by a notice under section 27(1);

• (j) to use or disclose any information in contravention of section 27(4) or 28;

• (k) to make a statement which he knows to be false or recklessly to make a statement which is false where the statement is made—

• (i) in purported compliance with a requirement to furnish any information imposed by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions; or

• (ii) for the purpose of obtaining the issue of a document under any of the relevant statutory provisions to himself or another person;

• (l) intentionally to make a false entry in any register, book, notice or other document required by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions to be kept, served or given or, with intent to deceive, to make use of any such entry which he knows to be false;

• (m) with intent to deceive, to forge or use a document issued or authorised to be issued under any of the relevant statutory provisions or required for any purpose thereunder or to make or have in his possession a document so closely resembling any such document as to be calculated to deceive;

• (n) falsely to pretend to be an inspector;

• (o) to fail to comply with an order made by a court under section 42.

• (2) Schedule 3A (which specifies the mode of trial and maximum penalty applicable to offences under this section and the existing statutory provisions) has effect.

• (3) Schedule 3A is subject to any provision made by virtue of section 15(6)(c) or (d).

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Extension of time for bringing summary proceedings

34

• (1) Where—

• (a) a special report on any matter to which section 14 of this Act applies is made by virtue of subsection (2) of that section; or

• (b) a report is made by the person holding an inquiry into any such matter by virtue of subsection (2A) of that section; or

• (c) an investigation under Part 1 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 is conducted into the death of any person whose death may have been caused by an accident which happened while he was at work or by a disease which he contracted or probably contracted at work or by any accident, act or omission which occured in connection with the work of any person whatsoever; or

• (d) an inquiry into any death that may have been so caused is held under the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016,

and it appears from the report or investigation or, in a case falling within paragraph (d) above, from the proceedings at the inquiry, that any of the relevant statutory provisions was contravened at a time which is material in relation to the subject-matter of the report, investigation or inquiry, summary proceedings against any person liable to be proceeded against in respect of the contravention may be commenced at any time within three months of the making of the report or, in a case falling within paragraph (c) or (d) above, within three months of the conclusion of the investigation or inquiry.

• (2) Where an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions is committed by reason of a failure to do something at or within a time fixed by or under any of those provisions, the offence shall be deemed to continue until that thing is done.

• (3) Summary proceedings for an offence to which this subsection applies may be commenced at any time within six months from the date on which there comes to the knowledge of a responsible enforcing authority evidence sufficient in the opinion of that authority to justify a prosecution for that offence; and for the purposes of this subsection—

• (a) a certificate of an enforcing authority stating that such evidence came to its knowledge on a specified date shall be conclusive evidence of that fact; and

• (b) a document purporting to be such a certificate and to be signed by or on behalf of the enforcing authority in question shall be presumed to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.

• (4) The preceding subsection applies to any offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions which a person commits by virtue of any provision or requirement to which he is subject as the designer, manufacturer, importer or supplier of any thing; and in that subsection “responsible enforcing authority” means an enforcing authority within whose field of responsibility the offence in question lies, whether by virtue of section 35 or otherwise.

• (5) In the application of subsection (3) above to Scotland—

• (a) for the words from “there comes” to “that offence” there shall be substituted the words “evidence, sufficient in the opinion of the enforcing authority to justify a report to the Lord Advocate with a view to consideration of the question of prosecution, comes to the knowledge of the authority”;

• (b) at the end of paragraph (b) there shall be added the words “and

• (c) section 331(3) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (date of commencement of proceedings) shall have effect as it has effect for the purposes of that section.”

• (6) In the application of subsection (4) above to Scotland, after the words “applies to” there shall be inserted the words “any offence under section 33(1)(c) above where the health and safety regulations concerned were made for the general purpose mentioned in section 18(1) of the Gas Act 1986 and”.

Venue

35

An offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions commited in connection with any plant or substance may, if necessary for the purpose of bringing the offence within the field of responsibility of any enforcing authority or conferring jurisdiction on any court to entertain proceedings for the offence, be treated as having been commited at the place where that plant or substance is for the time being.

Offences due to fault of other person

36

• (1) Where the commission by any person of an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person shall be guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this subsection whether or not proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned person.

• (2) Where there would be or have been the commission of an offence under section 33 by the Crown but for the circumstance that that section does not bind the Crown, and that fact is due to the act or default of a person other than the Crown, that person shall be guilty of the offence which, but for that circumstance, the Crown would be committing or would have committed, and may be charged with and convicted of that offence accordingly.

• (3) The preceding provisions of this section are subject to any provision made by virtue of section 15(6).

Offences by bodies corporate

37

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

• (2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, the preceding subsection shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

Restriction on institution of proceedings in England and Wales

38

Proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions shall not, in England and Wales, be instituted except by an inspector , the Environment Agency or the Natural Resources Body for Wales or by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Prosecutions by inspectors

39

• (1) An inspector, if authorised in that behalf by the enforcing authority which appointed him, may, although not of counsel or a solicitor, prosecute before a magistrates’ court proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions.

• (2) This section shall not apply to Scotland.

Onus of proving limits of what is practicable etc.

40

In any proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions consisting of a failure to comply with a duty or requirement to do something so far as is practicable or so far as is reasonably practicable, or to use the best practicable means to do something, it shall be for the accused to prove (as the case may be) that it was not practicable or not reasonably practicable to do more than was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement, or that there was no better practicable means than was in fact used to satisfy the duty or requirement.

Evidence

41

• (1) Where an entry is required by any of the relevant statutory provisions to be made in any register or other record, the entry, if made, shall, as against the person by or on whose behalf it was made, be admissible as evidence or in Scotland sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein.

• (2) Where an entry which is so required to be so made with respect to the observance of any of the relevant statutory provisions has not been made, that fact shall be admissible as evidence or in Scotland sufficient evidence that that provision has not been observed.

Power of court to order cause of offence to be remedied or, in certain cases, forfeiture

42

• (1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions in respect of any matters which appear to the court to be matters which it is in his power to remedy, the court may, in addition to or instead of imposing any punishment, order him. within such time as may be fixed by the order, to take such steps as may be specified in the order for remedying the said matters.

• (2) The time fixed by an order under subsection (1) above may be extended or further extended by order of the court on an application made before the end of that time as originally fixed or as extended under this subsection, as the case may be.

• (3) Where a person is ordered under subsection (1) above to remedy any matters, that person shall not be liable under any of the relevant statutory provisions in respect of those matters in so far as they continue during the time fixed by the order or any further time allowed under subsection (2) above.

• (3A) Subsection (4) applies where a person is convicted of an offence consisting of acquiring or attempting to acquire, possessing or using an explosive article or substance (within the meaning of any of the relevant statutory provisions) in contravention of any of the relevant statutory provisions.

• (4) Subject to the following subsection, the court by or before which the person is convicted of the offence may order the article or substance in question to be forfeited and either destroyed or dealt with in such other manner as the court may order.

• (5) The court shall not order anything to be forfeited under the preceding subsection where a person claiming to be the owner of or otherwise interested in it applies to be heard by the court, unless an opportunity has been given to him to show cause why the order should not be made.

Financial provisions

Financial provisions

43

• (1) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to pay to the Executive such sums as are approved by the Treasury and as he considers appropriate for the purpose of enabling the Executive to perform its functions; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) Regulations may provide for such fees as may be fixed by or determined under the regulations to be payable for or in connection with the performance by or on behalf of any authority to which this subsection applies of any function conferred on that authority by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions.

• (3) Subsection (2) above applies to the following authorities, namely . . . the Executive, the Secretary of State, . . . , every enforcing authority, and any other person on whom any function is conferred by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions.

• (4) Regulations under this section may specify the person by whom any fee payable under the regulations is to be paid; but no such fee shall be made payable by a person in any of the following capacities, namely an employee, a person seeking employment, a person training for employment, and a person seeking training for employment.

• (5) Without prejudice to section 82(3), regulations under this section may fix or provide for the determination of different fees in relation to different functions, or in relation to the same function in different circumstances.

• (6) The power to make regulations under this section shall be exercisable by the Secretary of State . . ..

• (8) In subsection (4) above the references to a person training for employment and a person seeking training for employment shall include respectively a person attending an industrial rehabilitation course provided by virtue of the Employment and TrainingAct 1973 and a person seeking to attend such a course.

• (9) For the purposes of this section the performance by an inspector of his functions shall be treated as the performance by the enforcing authority which appointed him of functions conferred on that authority by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions.

Miscellaneous and supplementary

Appeals in connection with licensing provisions in the relevant statutory provisions

44

• (1) Any person who is aggrieved by a decision of an authority having power to issue licences ...under any of the relevant statutory provisions—

• (a) refusing to issue him a licence, to renew a licence held by him, or to transfer to him a licence held by another;

• (b) issuing him a licence on or subject to any term, condition or restriction whereby he is aggrieved;

• (c) varying or refusing to vary any term, condition or restriction on or subject to which a licence is held by him; or

• (d) revoking a licence held by him,

may appeal to the Secretary of State.

• (2) The Secretary of State may, in such cases as he considers it appropriate to do so, having regard to the nature of the questions which appear to him to arise, direct that an appeal under this section shall be determined on his behalf by a person appointed by him for that purpose.

• (3) Before the determination of an appeal the Secretary of State shall ask the appellant and the authority against whose decision the appeal is brought whether they wish to appear and be heard on the appeal and—

• (a) the appeal may be determined without a hearing of the parties if both of them express a wish not to appear and be heard as aforesaid;

• (b) the Secretary of State shall, if either of the parties expresses a wish to appear and be heard, afford to both of them an opportunity of so doing.

• (4) The Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992 shall apply to a hearing held by a person appointed in pursuance of subsection (2) above to determine an appeal as it applies to a statutory inquiry held by the Secretary of State, but as if in section 10(1) of that Act (statement of reasons for decisions) the reference to any decision taken by the Secretary of State included a reference to a decision taken on his behalf by that person.

• (4A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) A person who determines an appeal under this section on behalf of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State, if he determines such an appeal, may give such directions as he considers appropriate to give effect to his determination.

• (6) The Secretary of State may pay to any person appointed to hear or determine an appeal under this section on his behalf such remuneration and allowances as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service determine.

• (7) In this section—

• (a) “licence” means a licence under any of the relevant statutory provisions ...;

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Default powers

45

• (1) Where, in the case of a local authority who are an enforcing authority, the Executive is of the opinion that an investigation should be made as to whether that local authority have failed to perform any of their enforcement functions the Executive may make a report to the Secretary of State.

• (2) The Secretary of State may, after considering a report submitted to him under the preceding subsection, cause a local inquiry to be held; and the provisions of subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972 as to local inquiries shall, without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of that section, apply to a local inquiry so held as they apply to a local inquiry held in pursuance of that section.

• (3) If the Secretary of State is satisfied, after having caused a local inquiry to be held into the matter, that a local authority have failed to perform any of their enforcement functions, he may make an order declaring the authority to be in default.

• (4) An order made by virtue of the preceding subsection which declares an authority to be in default may, for the purpose of remedying the default, direct the authority (hereafter in this section referred to as “the defaulting authority”) to perform such of their enforcement functions as are specified in the order in such manner as may be so specified and may specify the time or times within which those functions are to be performed by the authority.

• (5) If the defaulting authority fail to comply with any direction contained in such an order the Secretary of State may, instead of enforcing the order by mandamus, make an order transferring to the Executive such of the enforcement functions of the defaulting authority as he thinks fit.

• (6) Where any enforcement functions of the defaulting authority are transferred in pursuance of the preceding subsection, the amount of any expenses which the Executive certifies were incurred by it in performing those functions shall on demand be paid to it by the defaulting authority.

• (7) Any expenses which in pursuance of the preceding subsection are required to be paid by the defaulting authority in respect of any enforcement functions transferred in pursuance of this section shall be defrayed by the authority in the like manner, and shall be debited to the like account, as if the enforcement functions had not been transferred and the expenses had been incurred by the authority in performing them.

• (8) Where the defaulting authority are required to defray any such expenses the authority shall have the like powers for the purpose of raising the money for defraying those expenses as they would have had for the purpose of raising money required for defraying expenses incurred for the purpose of the enforcement functions in question.

• (9) An order transferring any enforcement functions of the defaulting authority in pursuance of subsection (5) above may provide for the transfer to the Executive of such of the rights, liabilities and obligations of the authority as the Secretary of State considers appropriate; and where such an order is revoked the Secretary of State may, by the revoking order or a subsequent order, make such provision as he considers appropriate with respect to any rights, liabilities and obligations held by the Executive for the purposes of the transferred enforcement functions.

• (10) The Secretary of State may by order vary or revoke any order previously made by him in pursuance of this section.

• (11) In this section “enforcement functions”, in relation to a local authority, means the functions of the authority as an enforcing authority.

• (12) In the application of this section to Scotland—

• (a) in subsection (2) for the words “subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972” there shall be substituted the words “subsections (2) to (8) of section 210 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973”, except that before 16th May 1975 for the said words there shall be substituted the words “subsections (2) to (9) of section 355 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947”;

• (b) in subsection (5) the words “instead of enforcing the order by mandamus” shall be omitted.

Service of notices

46

• (1) Any notice required or authorised by any of the relevant statutory provisions to be served on or given to an inspector may be served or given by delivering it to him or by leaving it at, or sending it by post to, his office.

• (2) Any such notice required or authorised to be served on or given to a person other than an inspector may be served or given by delivering it to him, or by leaving it at his proper address, or by sending it by post to him at that address.

• (3) Any such notice may—

• (a) in the case of a body corporate, be served on or given to the secretary or clerk of that body;

• (b) in the case of a partnership, be served on or given to a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business or, in Scotland, the firm.

• (4) For the purposes of this section and of section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (service of documents by post) in its application to this section, the proper address of any person on or to whom any such notice is to be served or given shall be his last known address, except that—

• (a) in the case of a body corporate or their secretary or clerk, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of that body;

• (b) in the case of a partnership or a person having the control or the management of the partnership business, it shall be the principal office of the partnership;

and for the purposes of this subsection the principal office of a company registered outside the United Kingdom or of a partnership carrying on business outside the United Kingdom shall be their principal office within the United Kingdom.

• (5) If the person to be served with or given any such notice has specified an address within the United Kingdom other than his proper address within the meaning of subsection (4) above as the one at which he or someone on his behalf will accept notices of the same description as that notice, that address shall also be treated for the purposes of this section and section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 as his proper address.

• (6) Without prejudice to any other provision of this section, any such notice required or authorised to be served on or given to the owner or occupier of any premises (whether a body corporate or not) may be served or given by sending it by post to him at those premises, or by addressing it by name to the person on or to whom it is to be served or given and delivering it to some responsible person who is or appears to be resident or employed in the premises.

• (7) If the name or the address of any owner or occupier of premises on or to whom any such notice as aforesaid is to be served or given cannot after reasonable inquiry be ascertained, the notice may be served or given by addressing it to the person on or to whom it is to be served or given by the description of “owner” or “occupier” of the premises (describing them) to which the notice relates, and by delivering it to some responsible person who is or appears to be resident or employed in the premises, or, if there is no such person to whom it can be delivered, by affixing it or a copy of it to some conspicuous part of the premises.

• (8) The preceding provisions of this section shall apply to the sending or giving of a document as they apply to the giving of a notice.

Civil liability

47

• (1) Nothing in this Part shall be construed—

• (a) as conferring a right of action in any civil proceedings in respect of any failure to comply with any duty imposed by sections 2 to 7 or any contravention of section 8; or

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (c) as affecting the operation of section 12 of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (right to compensation by virtue of certain provisions of that Act).

• (2) Breach of a duty imposed by a statutory instrument containing (whether alone or with other provision) health and safety regulations shall not be actionable except to the extent that regulations under this section so provide.

• (2A) Breach of a duty imposed by an existing statutory provision shall not be actionable except to the extent that regulations under this section so provide (including by modifying any of the existing statutory provisions).

• (2B) Regulations under this section may include provision for—

• (a) a defence to be available in any action for breach of the duty mentioned in subsection (2) or (2A);

• (b) any term of an agreement which purports to exclude or restrict any liability for such a breach to be void.

• (3) No provision made by virtue of section 15(6)(b) shall afford a defence in any civil proceedings ...

• (4) Subsections (1)(a) , (2) and (2A) above are without prejudice to any right of action which exists apart from the provisions of this Act, and subsection (2B)(a) above is without prejudice to any defence which may be available apart from the provisions of the regulations there mentioned.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (7) The power to make regulations under this section shall be exercisable by the Secretary of State.

Application to Crown

48

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the provisions of this Part, except sections 21 to 25 and 33 to 42, and of regulations made under this Part shall bind the Crown.

• (2) Although they do not bind the Crown, sections 33 to 42 shall apply to persons in the public service of the Crown as they apply to other persons.

• (3) For the purposes of this Part and regulations made thereunder persons in the service of the Crown shall be treated as employees of the Crown whether or not they would be so treated apart from this subsection.

• (4) Without prejudice to section 15(5), the Secretary of State may, to the extent that it appears to him requisite or expedient to do so in the interests of the safety of the State or the safe custody of persons lawfully detained, by order exempt the Crown either generally or in particular respects from all or any of the provisions of this Part which would, by virtue of subsection (1) above, bind the Crown.

• (5) The power to make orders under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument, and any such order may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order.

• (6) Nothing in this section shall authorise proceedings to be brought against Her Majesty in her private capacity, and this subsection shall be construed as if section 38(3) of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 (interpretation of references in that Act to Her Majesty in her private capacity) were contained in this Act.

Adaptation of enactments to metric units or appropriate metric units

49

• (1) Regulations made under this subsection may amend—

• (a) any of the relevant statutory provisions; or

• (b) any provision of an enactment which relates to any matter relevant to any of the general purposes of this Part but is not among the relevant statutory provisions; or

• (c) any provision of an instrument made or having effect under any such enactment as is mentioned in the preceding paragraph,

by substituting an amount or quantity expressed in metric units for an amount or quantity not so expressed or by substituting an amount or quantity expressed in metric units of a description specified in the regulations for an amount or quantity expressed in metric units of a different description.

• (2) The amendments shall be such as to preserve the effect of the provisions mentioned except to such extent as in the opinion of the authority making the regulations is necessary to obtain amounts expressed in convenient and suitable terms.

• (3) Regulations made . . . under this subsection may, in the case of a provision which falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) above and contains words which refer to units other than metric units, repeal those words if the authority making the regulations is of the opinion that those words could be omitted without altering the effect of that provision.

• (4) The power to make regulations under this section shall be exercisable by the Secretary of State . . ..

Regulations under relevant statutory provisions

50

• (1) Where any power to make regulations under any of the relevant statutory provisions is exercisable by the Secretary of State, that power may be exercised either—

• (a) so as to give effect (with or without modifications) to proposals submitted by the Executive under section 11(3); or

• (b) subject to subsection (1AA), independently of such proposals.

• (1AA) The Secretary of State shall not exercise the power referred to in subsection (1) independently of proposals from the Executive unless the Secretary of State has consulted—

• (a) the Executive,

• (b) the Office for Nuclear Regulation, and

• (c) such other bodies as appear to the Secretary of State to be appropriate.

• (1A) Subsection (1) does not apply to the exercise of a power to make regulations so far as it is exercised—

• (a) for giving effect (with or without modifications) to proposals submitted by the Office of Rail and Road under paragraph 2(5) of Schedule 3 to the Railways Act 2005; or

• (b) otherwise for or in connection with the railway safety purposes.

• (2) Where the authority who is to exercise any such power as is mentioned in subsection (1) above proposes to exercise that power so as to give effect to any such proposals as are there mentioned with modifications, he shall, before making the regulations, consult — .

• (a) the Executive, and

• (b) the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

• (3) Where the Executive proposes to submit under section 11(3) any such proposals as are mentioned in subsection (1) above except proposals for the making of regulations under section 43(2), it shall, before so submitting them, consult—

• (za) the Office for Nuclear Regulation;

• (a) any government department or other body that appears to the Executive to be appropriate (and, in particular, in the case of proposals for the making of regulations under section 18(2), any body representing local authorities that so appears...;

• (b) such government departments and other bodies, if any, as, in relation to any matter dealt with in the proposals, the Executive is required to consult under this subsection by virtue of directions given to it by the Secretary of State.

• (4) If the Executive has consulted the Office for Nuclear Regulation under subsection (3) in relation to a proposal under section 11(3) for regulations under any of the relevant statutory provisions, it must, when it submits the proposal (with or without modification) to the Secretary of State, also submit—

• (a) any representations made by the Office for Nuclear Regulation in response to the consultation, and

• (b) any response to those representations given by the Executive to the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

• (5) The preceding provisions of this section do not apply to the exercise of the power in section 43 to make ONR fees regulations, but the Secretary of State must consult the Office for Nuclear Regulation before—

• (a) making ONR fees regulations independently of any proposals submitted by the Office for Nuclear Regulation under section 81(1) of the Energy Act 2013, or

• (b) making ONR fees regulations which give effect to such proposals but with modifications.

• (6) In subsection (5) “ ONR fees regulations ” means regulations under section 43 so far as they make provision in relation to fees payable for or in connection with the performance of a function by or on behalf of—

• (a) the Office for Nuclear Regulation, or

• (b) any inspector appointed by the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Exclusion of application to domestic employment

51

Nothing in this Part shall apply in relation to a person by reason only that he employs another, or is himself employed, as a domestic servant in a private household.

Meaning of work and at work

52

• (1) For the purposes of this Part—

• (a) “work” means work as an employee or as a self-employed person;

• (b) an employee is at work throughout the time when he is in the course of his employment, but not otherwise;

• (bb) a person holding the office of constable is at work throughout the time when he is on duty, but not otherwise; and

• (c) a self-employed person is at work throughout such time as he devotes to work as a self-employed person;

and, subject to the following subsection, the expressions “work” and “at work”, in whatever context, shall be construed accordingly.

• (2) Regulations made under this subsection may—

• (a) extend the meaning of “work” and “at work” for the purposes of this Part; and

• (b) in that connection provide for any of the relevant statutory provisions to have effect subject to such adaptations as may be specified in the regulations.

• (3) The power to make regulations under subsection (2) above shall be exercisable by the Secretary of State . . ..

General interpretation of Part I

53

• (1) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—

• ...

• “article for use at work” means—any plant designed for use or operation (whether exclusively or not) by persons at work, andany article designed for use as a component in any such plant;

• “article of fairground equipment” means any fairground equipment or any article designed for use as a component in any such equipment;

• ...

• ...

• “code of practice” (without prejudice to section 16(8)) includes a standard, a specification and any other documentary form of practical guidance;

• ...

• “conditional sale agreement” means an agreement for the sale of goods under which the purchase price or part of it is payable by instalments, and the property in the goods is to remain in the seller (notwithstanding that the buyer is to be in possession of the goods) until such conditions as to the payment of instalments or otherwise as may be specified in the agreement are fulfilled;

• “contract of employment” means a contract of employment or apprenticeship (whether express or implied and, if express, whether oral or in writing);

• “credit-sale agreement” means an agreement for the sale of goods, under which the purchase price or part of it is payable by instalments, but which is not a conditional sale agreement;

• “customs officer” means an officer within the meaning of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979;

• “domestic premises” means premises occupied as a private dwelling (including any garden, yard, garage, outhouse or other appurtenance of such premises which is not used in common by the occupants of more than one such dwelling), and “non-domestic premises” shall be construed accordingly;

• “employee” means an individual who works under a contract of employment or is treated by section 51A as being an employee, and related expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• “enforcing authority” has the meaning assigned by section 18(7);

• “the Executive” has the meaning assigned by section 10(1);

• “the existing statutory provisions” means the following provisions while and to the extent that they remain in force, namely the provisions of the Acts mentioned in Schedule 1 which are specified in the third column of that Schedule and of the regulations, orders or other instruments of a legislative character made or having effect under any provision so specified;

• ...

• “fairground equipment” means any fairground ride, any similar plant which is designed to be in motion for entertainment purposes with members of the public on or inside it or any plant which is designed to be used by members of the public for entertainment purposes either as a slide or for bouncing upon, and in this definition the reference to plant which is designed to be in motion with members of the public on or inside it includes a reference to swings, dodgems and other plant which is designed to be in motion wholly or partly under the control of, or to be put in motion by, a member of the public;

• “the general purposes of this Part” has the meaning assigned by section 1;

• “health and safety regulations” has the meaning assigned by section 15(1);

• “hire-purchase agreement” means an agreement other than a conditional sale agreement, under which—goods are bailed or (in Scotland) hired in return for periodical payments by the person to whom they are bailed or hired; andthe property in the goods will pass to that person if the terms of the agreement are complied with and one or more of the following occurs:the exercise of an option to purchase by that person;the doing of any other specified act by any party to the agreement;the happening of any other event;and “hire-purchase” shall be construed accordingly;

• “improvement notice” means a notice under section 21;

• “inspector” means an inspector appointed under section 19;

• ...

• “local authority” means—in relation to England ..., a county council, ... a district council, a London borough council, the Common Council of the City of London, the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple or the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple,in relation to Wales, a county council or a county borough council,in relation to Scotland, a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;

• “micro-organism” includes any microscopic biological entity which is capable of replication;

• “nuclear safeguards purposes” has the same meaning as in Part 3 of the Energy Act 2013 (nuclear regulation etc.) (see section 72 of that Act);

• “nuclear safety purposes” has the same meaning as in that Part of that Act (see section 68 of that Act);

• “nuclear security purposes” has the same meaning as in that Part of that Act (see section 70 of that Act);

• “offshore installation” means any installation which is intended for underwater exploitation of mineral resources or exploration with a view to such exploitation;

• “the ONR's purposes” has the same meaning as in Part 3 of the Energy Act 2013 (see section 67 of that Act);

• “personal injury” includes any disease and any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition;

• “plant” includes any machinery, equipment or appliance;

• “premises” includes any place and, in particular, includes—any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or hovercraft,any installation on land (including the foreshore and other land intermittently covered by water), any offshore installation, and any other installation (whether floating, or resting on the seabed or the subsoil thereof, or resting on other land covered with water or the subsoil thereof), andany tent or moveable structure;

• “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State;

• “prohibition notice” means a notice under section 22;

• “the radioactive material transport purposes” means the transport purposes within the meaning of Part 3 of the Energy Act 2013 (see section 73 of that Act);

• ...

• “railway safety purposes” has the same meaning as in Schedule 3 to the Railways Act 2005;

• “the relevant statutory provisions” means—the provisions of this Part and of any health and safety regulations ...; andthe existing statutory provisions;

• “self-employed person” means an individual who works for gain or reward otherwise than under a contract of employment, whether or not he himself employs others;

• “substance” means any natural or artificial substance (including micro-organisms), whether in solid or liquid form or in the form of a gas or vapour;

• ...

• “supply”, where the reference is to supplying articles or substances, means supplying them by way of sale, lease, hire or hire-purchase, whether as principal or agent for another.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Application of Part I to Isles of Scilly

54

This Part, in its application to the Isles of Scilly, shall apply as if those Isles were a local government area and the Council of those Isles were a local authority.

Part II — The Employment Medical Advisory Service

Functions of, and responsibility for maintaining, employment medical advisory service

55

• (1) There shall continue to be an employment medical advisory service, which shall be maintained for the following purposes, that is to say—

• (a) securing that the Secretary of State, the Health and Safety Executive , . . . and others concerned with the health of employed persons or of persons seeking or training for employment can be kept informed of, and adequately advised on, matters of which they ought respectively to take cognisance concerning the safeguarding and improvement of the health of those persons;

• (b) giving to employed persons and persons seeking or training for employment information and advice on health in relation to employment and training for employment;

• (c) other purposes of the Secretary of State’s functions relating to employment.

• (2) The authority responsible for maintaining the said service shall be the Secretary of State; but if arrangements are made by the Secretary of State for that responsibility to be discharged on his behalf by the Health and Safety Executive or some other body, then, while those arrangements operate, the body so discharging that responsibility (and not the Secretary of State) shall be the authority responsible for maintaining that service.

• (3) The authority for the time being responsible for maintaining the said service may also for the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) above, and for the purpose of assisting employment medical advisers in the performance of their functions, investigate or assist in, arrange for or make payments in respect of the investigation of problems arising in connection with any such matters as are so mentioned or otherwise in connection with the functions of employment medical advisers, and for the purpose of investigating or assisting in the investigation of such problems may provide and maintain such laboratories and other services as appear to the authority to be requisite.

• (4) Any arrangements made by the Secretary of State in pursuance of subsection (2) above may be terminated by him at any time, but without prejudice to the making of other arrangements at any time in pursuance of that subsection (including arrangements which are to operate from the time when any previous arrangements so made cease to operate).

• (5) Without prejudice to section 12, it shall be the duty of the Health and Safety Executive, if so directed by the Secretary of State, to enter into arrangements with him for the Executive to be responsible for maintaining the said service.

• (6) In subsection (1) above—

• (a) the reference to persons training for employment shall include persons attending industrial rehabilitation courses provided by virtue of the Employment and Training Act 1973; and

• (b) the reference to persons (other than the Secretary of State and the the Health and Safety Executive) concerned with the health of employed persons or of persons seeking or training for employment shall be taken to include organisations representing employers, employees and occupational health practitioners respectively.

Functions of authority responsible for maintaining the service

56

• (1) The authority for the time being responsible for maintaining the employment medical advisory service shall for the purpose of discharging that responsibility appoint persons to be employment medical advisers, and may for that purpose appoint such other officers and servants as it may determine, subject however to the requisite approval as to numbers, that is to say—

• (a) where that authority is the Secretary of State, the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service;

• (b) otherwise, the approval of the Secretary of State given with the consent of that Minister.

• (2) A person shall not be qualified to be appointed, or to be, an employment medical adviser unless he is a fully registered medical practitioner who holds a licence to practise.

• (3) The authority for the time being responsible for maintaining the said service may determine the cases and circumstances in which the employment medical advisers or any of them are to perform the duties or exercise the powers conferred on employment medical advisers by or under this Act or otherwise.

• (4) Where as a result of arrangements made in pursuance of section 55(2) the authority responsible for maintaining the said service changes, the change shall not invalidate any appointment previously made under subsection (1) above, and any such appointment subsisting when the change occurs shall thereafter have effect as if made by the new authority.

Fees

57

• (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations provide for such fees as may be fixed by or determined under the regulations to be payable for or in connection with the performance by the authority responsible for maintaining the employment medical advisory service of any function conferred for the purposes of that service on that authority by virtue of this Part or otherwise.

• (2) For the purposes of this section, the performance by an employment medical adviser of his functions shall be treated as the performance by the authority responsible for maintaining the said service of functions conferred on that authority as mentioned in the preceding subsection.

• (3) The provisions of subsections (4), (5) and (8) of section 43 shall apply in relation to regulations under this section with the modification that references to subsection (2) of that section shall be read as references to subsection (1) of this section.

• (4) Where an authority other than the Secretary of State is responsible for maintaining the said service, the Secretary of State shall consult that authority before making any regulations under this section.

Other financial provisions

58

• (1) The authority for the time being responsible for maintaining the employment medical advisory service may pay—

• (a) to employment medical advisers such salaries or such fees and travelling or other allowances; and

• (b) to other persons called upon to give advice in connection with the execution of the authority’s functions under this Part such travelling or other allowances or compensation for loss of remunerative time; and

• (c) to persons attending for medical examinations conducted by, or in accordance with arrangements made by, employment medical advisers (including pathological, physiological and radiological tests and similar investigations so conducted) such travelling or subsistence allowances or such compensation for loss of earnings,

as the authority may, with the requisite approval, determine.

• (2) For the purposes of the preceding subsection the requisite approval is—

• (a) where the said authority is the Secretary of State, the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service;

• (b) otherwise, the approval of the Secretary of State given with the consent of that Minister.

• (3) Where an authority other than the Secretary of State is responsible for maintaining the said service, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to pay to that authority such sums as are approved by the Treasury and as he considers appropriate for the purpose of enabling the authority to discharge that responsibility.

Duty of responsible authority to keep accounts and to report

59

• (1) It shall be the duty of the authority for the time being responsible for maintaining the employment medical advisory service—

• (a) to keep, in relation to the maintenance of that service, proper accounts and proper records in relation to the accounts;

• (b) to prepare in respect of each accounting year a statement of accounts relating to the maintenance of that service in such form as the Secretary of State may direct with the approval of the Treasury; and

• (c) to send copies of the statement to the Secretary of State and the Comptroller and Auditor General before the end of the month of November next following the accounting year to which the statement relates.

• (2) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on each statement received by him in pursuance of subsection (1) above and shall lay copies of each statement and of his report before each House of Parliament.

• (3) It shall also be the duty of the authority responsible for maintaining the employment medical advisory service to make to the Secretary of State, as soon as possible after the end of each accounting year, a report on the discharge of its responsibilites in relation to that service during that year; and the Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a copy of each report made to him in pursuance of this subsection.

• (4) Where as a result of arrangements made in pursuance of section 55(2) the authority responsible for maintaining the employment medical advisory service changes, the change shall not affect any duty imposed by this section on the body which was responsible for maintaining that service before the change.

• (5) No duty imposed on the authority for the time being responsible for maintaining the employment medical advisory service by subsection (1) or (3) above shall fall on the Executive(which is subject to corresponding duties under Schedule 2) or on the Secretary of State.

• (6) In this section “accounting year” means, except so far as the Secretary of State otherwise directs, the period of twelve months ending with 31st March in any year.

Supplementary

60

• (1) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to secure that NHS England or each integrated care board (in relation to England) and each Local Health Board (in relation to Wales) arranges for a fully registered medical practitioner who holds a licence to practise to furnish, on the application of an employment medical adviser, such particulars of the school medical record of a person who has not attained the age of eighteen and such other information relating to his medical history as the adviser may reasonably require for the efficient performance of his functions; but no particulars or information about any person which may be furnished to an adviser in pursuance of this subsection shall (without the consent of that person) be disclosed by the adviser otherwise than for the efficient performance of his functions.

• (2) In its application to Scotland the preceding subsection shall have effect with the substitution of the words “every Health Board arrange ...” for the words from “the National” to “arranges”.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) References to the chief employment medical adviser or a deputy chief employment medical adviser in any provision of an enactment or instrument made under an enactment shall be read as references to a person appointed for the purposes of that provision by the authority responsible for maintaining the employment medical advisory service.

• (5) The following provisions of the Employment Medical Advisory Service Act 1972 (which are superseded by the preceding provisions of this Part or rendered unnecessary by provisions contained in Part I), namely sections 1 and 6 and Schedule 1, shall cease to have effect; but—

• (a) in so far as anything done under or by virtue of the said section 1 or Schedule 1 could have been done under or by virtue of a corresponding provision of Part I or this Part, it shall not be invalidated by the repeal of that section and Schedule by this Act but shall have effect as if done under or by virtue of that corresponding provision; and

• (b) any order made under the said section 6 which is in force immediately before the repeal of that section by this Act shall remain in force notwithstanding that repeal, but may be revoked or varied by regulations under section 43(2) or 57, as if it were an instrument containing regulations made under section 43(2) or 57, as the case may require.

• (6) Where any Act (whether passed before, or in the same Session as, this Act) or any document refers, either expressly or by implication, to or to any enactment contained in any of the provisions of the said Act of 1972 which are mentioned in the preceding subsection, the reference shall, except where the context otherwise requires, be construed as, or as including, a reference to the corresponding provision of this Act.

• (7) Nothing in subsection (5) or (6) above shall be taken as prejudicing the operation of sections 16(1) and 17(2)(a) of the Interpretation Act 1978 (which relates to the effect of repeals).

Part III — Building Regulations, and Amendment of Building (Scotland) Act 1959

Amendments of enactments relating to building regulations

61

Further matters for which building regulations may provide

62

• (1) Building regulations may make provision for requiring local authorities in such circumstances as may be prescribed to consult any prescribed person before taking any prescribed step in connection with any work or other matter to which building regulations are applicable.

• (2) Building regulations—

• (a) may authorise local authorities to accept, as evidence that the requirements of building regulations as to matters of any prescribed description are or would be satisfied, certificates to that effect by persons of any class or description prescribed in relation to those matters or by a person nominated in writing by the Secretary of State in any particular case ;

• (b) may provide for the issue by local authorities of certificates to the effect that, so far as the authority concerned have been able to ascertain after taking all reasonable steps in that behalf, the requirements of building regulations as to matters of any prescribed description are satisfied in any particular case, and for such certificates to be evidence (but not conclusive evidence) of compliance with the regulations ;

• (c) may make provision—

• (i) for prohibiting, in prescribed circumstances, the carrying out of proposed work of any prescribed class involving matters of any prescribed description unless there has been deposited with the prescribed authority as regards those matters a certificate such as is mentioned in paragraph (a) above ;

• (ii) for enabling, in cases where such a certificate is required by virtue of the preceding sub-paragraph, any dispute as to whether a certificate ought to be issued to be referred to the Secretary of State; and

• (iii) for enabling the Secretary of State, on any such reference, to give such directions as he thinks fit.