Local Government Act 1972

192 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

193 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

195 Social services functions.

(1) Outside Greater London, the local authorities for the purposes of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 (in this section referred to as “the Act of 1970”) shall be the councils of non-metropolitan counties and the councils of metropolitan districts; and accordingly in section 1 of that Act for the words “counties, county boroughs” there shall be substituted the words “ non-metropolitan counties, metropolitan districts ”. (2) In a non-metropolitan county in England each district council and the county council shall from time to time consult together with respect to the nature and extent of the accommodation needed for people who by reason of infirmity or disability (whether arising from age or otherwise) are in need of accommodation of a special character. (3) The following proposals and schemes, so far as in force immediately before 1st April 1974, that is to say,— (a) proposals approved under section 20 of the National Health Service Act 1946 relating to the duties of local health authorities under section 22 of that Act (care of mothers and young children) or under section 12 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 (prophylaxis, care and after-care), and (b) schemes approved under section 34 of the National Assistance Act 1948 (relating to the provision of accommodation, the welfare of handicapped persons and the employment of disabled persons), shall cease to have effect; and the local authorities who, by virtue of section 1 of the Act of 1970, . . ., are the local authorities for the purposes of that Act may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, and to such extent as he may direct shall, make arrangements for carrying out the functions to which those proposals and schemes formerly related. (4) Any delegation scheme under section 46 of the Local Government Act 1958 (relating to health and welfare functions) which is in force immediately before 1st April 1974 shall cease to have effect. (5) Any scheme or regional plan made by a children’s regional planning committee under the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 and in force immediately before 1st April 1974 shall, subject to the provisions of that Act, continue in force with such modifications as may be necessary to take account of the replacement of the existing local authorities by the new authorities. (6) The enactments specified in Schedule 23 to this Act, being enactments conferring social services functions on local authorities in varying capacities, shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in that Schedule, being amendments designed— (a) to vest those functions in the local authorities who, by virtue of section 1 of the Act of 1970, as amended by subsection (1) above, are the local authorities for the purposes of that Act; and (b) to give effect to subsection (3) above, as it affects those authorities. (7) In section 64(1) of the National Assistance Act1948 (interpretation), in the definition of “local authority”, the words “county borough” shall be omitted and, after word “district”, there shall be inserted the words “ or London borough or the Common Council of the City of London ”.

196 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

197 Fire services.

(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) In section 10 of the Fire Services Act 1947, as amended by Schedule 8 to the Local Government Act 1958 (power to make schemes in advance of alterations of local government areas) for the words from the beginning to “combined authorities” there shall be substituted the words “ If an order is made under Part IV of the Local Government Act 1972 constituting any area as a new county or altering the area of a county ”. . .

198 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

201 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

202 Public transport in passenger transport areas.

(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) . . ., Part II of the Transport Act 1968 shall have effect in its application to England and Wales subject to the amendments specified in Part I of Schedule 24 to this Act, being amendments— (a) to assimilate in certain respects the provisions of the said Part II to those of Part II of the Transport (London) Act 1969; (b) to make further provision with respect to the control of a Passenger Transport Executive by the Passenger Transport Authority; and (c) to remove, or to transfer to the Passenger Transport Authority, certain functions originally conferred on the Secretary of State. (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4)—(7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8) Expressions used in this section have the same meanings as in the Transport Act 1968.

203 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

204 Licensing: licensed premises, cinemas, theatres and refreshment houses.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

205 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

206 Public libraries and museums (England).

The local authorities for the purposes of the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 in England shall be county councils, . . ., London borough councils, district councils, the Common Council and the Council of the Isles of Scilly and, subject to the provisions of section 5 of that Act, each of the following authorities, that is to say— (a) the council of a non-metropolitan county; (b) the council of a London borough and the Common Council; (c) the council of a metropolitan district; shall be a library authority for those purposes.

207 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

208 Amendments of Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964.

(1) It shall not be necessary for any local authority within the meaning of the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 to obtain the consent of the Secretary of State to the provision of a museum or art gallery under section 12(1) of that Act or to the transfer of a museum or art gallery and its collections under section 12(2) of that Act, or to apply for an order under section 15(2) of that Act for the purpose of amalgamating a fund established under that section with a similar fund maintained under a local Act, and accordingly in the said section 15(2) for the words after “aforesaid” there shall be substituted the words “ it may amalgamate the funds, but without prejudice to the effect of any condition attached to any particular gift received by the authority ”. (2) The powers conferred by section 14 of the said Act of 1964 (contributions to expenses of museums and art galleries) on certain local authorities shall be exercisable by every local authority within the meaning of that Act, whether or not a library authority or maintaining a museum or art gallery. (3) The following additional amendments shall be made in the said Act of 1964— (a) in section 4(2)(a), after the word “council” there shall be inserted the words “ in Wales ”; (b) in sections 5(3), 6(5) and (6), 10(2), 11(2) and 21, for the words “non-county borough or urban district”, wherever occurring, there shall be substituted the words “ district in Wales ”; (c) in the proviso to section 5(3), for the words from “at the request” to “40,000” there shall be substituted the words “ if the Secretary of State thinks fit ”; (d) in section 6(6), after the word “above” there shall be inserted the words “ or under section 207 of the Local Government Act 1972 ”; (e) in section 6(7), for the words from the beginning to “above he” there shall be substituted the words “ Where the council of a district in Wales are constituted a library authority under section 207 of the Local Government Act 1972, the Secretary of State ”, and for the words “approved council” there shall be substituted the words “ council so constituted ”; (f) in section 11(2), the reference to section 60(2) of the Local Government Act 1958 shall be construed as a reference to section 255 below ; (g) in section 15(1), after the word “maintaining” there shall be inserted the words “ or proposing to provide ” and for the words from “for the time being” onwards there shall be substituted the words “ which the authority maintains or proposes to provide under that section ” ; (h) in section 16, for the words “local authority” there shall be substituted the words “ library authority ”; (i) in section 21, in subsections (1) and (3) after the words “county council” there shall be inserted the words “ in Wales ” and in subsection (1) the words from “and expenses” onwards shall cease to have effect; (j) in section 24(1), for the words “this Act” there shall be substituted the words “ the provisions of this Act relating to libraries ” and for the word “county” there shall be substituted the words “ non-metropolitan county ”; (k) in Schedule 2, in paragraph 2(1), the words from “but except” onwards shall cease to have effect.

209 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

210 Charities.

(1) Where, immediately before 1st April 1974, any property is held, as sole trustee, exclusively for charitable purposes by an existing local authority for an area outside Greater London, other than the parish council, parish meeting or representative body of an existing rural parish in England (but including the corporation of a borough included in a rural district), that property shall vest (on the same trusts) in a new local authority in accordance with subsections (2) to (5) below. (2) Subject to subsection (3) below, where the property is held by one of the existing authorities specified below, and is so held for the benefit of, or of the inhabitants of, or of any particular class or body of persons in, a specified area, the property shall vest in the new authority specified below, the area of which comprises the whole or the greater part of that specified area, and where the property is so held but is not held for such a benefit, it shall vest in the new authority specified below, the area of which comprises the whole or the greater part of the area of the existing authority, that is to say— (a) where the existing authority is a county council, the new authority is the council of the new county; (b) where the existing authority is the council of a borough or urban district in England, the new authority is the council of the parish constituted under Part V of Schedule 1 to this Act or, where there is no such parish, the council of the district; (c) where the existing authority is the council of a borough or urban district in Wales, the new authority is the council of the community or, where there is no such council, the council of the district; and (d) where the existing authority is a rural district council, then, if the rural district is coextensive with a parish, the new authority is the parish council, and in any other case the new authority is the council of the district. (3) Where the property is held by an existing county council or county borough council for the purposes of a charity registered in the register established under section 4 of the Charities Act 1960 in any part of that register which is maintained by the Secretary of State by virtue of section 2 of that Act (educational charities) then— (a) if the property is so held for the benefit of, or of the inhabitants of, or of any particular class or body of persons in, a specified area, the property shall vest in the new authority which is the local education authority for the whole or the greater part of that specified area, and (b) in any other case, the property shall vest in the new authority which is the local education authority for the whole or the greater part of the area of the existing county council or county borough council by which the property is held. (4) Where the property is held by the corporation of a borough included in a rural district, it shall vest in the parish council for the parish consisting of the area of the existing borough. (5) Where the property is held by the parish council, parish meeting or representative body of an existing rural parish in Wales, then— (a) in the case of property held by an existing parish council, the property shall vest in the community council for the community or group of communities, the area or areas of which are co-extensive with the area of the parish or parishes for which the existing parish council act; (b) in the case of property held by the parish meeting or representative body of an existing parish the area of which is comprised in a community for which there is a community council, the property shall vest in that community council; and (c) in any other case, the property shall vest in the council of the district which comprises the area of the existing rural parish. (6) Where, immediately before 1st April 1974, any power with respect to a charity, not being a charity incorporated under the Companies Acts or by charter, is under the trusts of the charity or by virtue of any enactment vested in, or in the holder of an office connected with, any existing local authority to which subsection (1) above applies, that power shall vest in, or in the holder of the corresponding office connected with, or (if there is no such office) the proper office of, the corresponding new authority, that is to say, the new authority in which, had the property of the charity been vested in the existing local authority, that property would have been vested under subsections (1) to (5) above. (7) References in subsection (6) above to a power with respect to a charity do not include references to a power of any person by virtue of being a charity trustee thereof; but where under the trusts of any charity, not being a charity incorporated under the Companies Acts or by charter, the charity trustees immediately before 1st April 1974 include either an existing local authority to which subsection (1) above applies or the holder of an office connected with such an existing local authority, those trustees shall instead include the corresponding new authority as defined in subsection (6) above or, as the case may require, the holder of the corresponding office connected with, or (if there is no such office) the proper officer of, that authority. (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (10) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall affect any power of Her Majesty, the court or any other person to alter the trusts of any charity and nothing in those provisions shall apply in a case to which section 211 below applies. (11) In this section the expression “local authority”, in relation to a parish, includes a parish meeting and the representative body of a parish, and the expressions “charitable purposes”, “charity”, “charity trustees”, “court” and “trusts” have the same meanings as in the Charities Act 1960.

211 Welsh Church funds.

(1) Any property which, immediately before 1st April 1974, is vested in the council of an existing county or county borough in Wales and is required to be applied in accordance with a scheme under section 19 of the Welsh Church Act 1914 (application of Welsh Church funds for charitable or eleemosynary purposes) shall be vested, by virtue of this Act, in the council of the new county which comprises the whole or the greater part of the area of that existing county or county borough. (2) Where, by virtue of subsection (1) above, property vested in the council of an existing county becomes vested in the council of a new county which does not comprise the whole of the area of the existing county, the new county council shall transfer an apportioned part of the property to each of the other new county councils whose areas include parts of the area of the existing county. (3) An apportionment for the purposes of subsection (2) above shall be made by agreement between the new county councils concerned, or, in default of such an agreement, shall be determined by arbitration before a single arbitrator appointed by agreement between those councils or, in default of such an agreement, appointed by the Secretary of State. (4) The vesting or transfer of any property by virtue of this section shall not affect the application of the property in accordance with the scheme under section 19 of the Welsh Church Act 1914 which is applicable to it immediately before 1st April 1974 or the amendment or revocation of any such scheme by a further scheme under that section.

212 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

213 Local licence duties.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

214 Cemeteries and crematoria.

(1) The following authorities, that is to say, the councils of Welsh counties, county boroughs districts, London boroughs, parishes and communities, the Common Council and the parish meetings of parishes having no parish council, whether separate or common, shall be burial authorities for the purposes of, and have the functions given to them by, the following provisions of this section and Schedule 26 to this Act; and— (a) the powers conferred by the Burial Acts 1852 to 1906 to provide burial grounds shall cease to be exercisable; and (b) any existing burial board, joint burial board or joint committee with the powers of such a board established under the Burial Act 1852 or section 53(2) of the Local Government Act 1894 or by any local statutory provision shall cease to exist. (2) Burial authorities may provide and maintain cemeteries whether in or outside their area. (3) The Secretary of State may by order make provision with respect to the management, regulation and control of the cemeteries of burial authorities and any such order may— (a) impose a fine for any contravention of the order; and (b) contain such provision amending or repealing any enactment (including any enactment in Schedule 26 to this Act) or revoking any instrument made under any enactment as appears to the Secretary of State to be necessary or proper in consequence of the order. (4) An order under this section may only be made after consultation with associations appearing to the Secretary of State to be representative of local authorities and with other bodies appearing to him to be concerned, and any such order shall be of no effect unless approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament. (5) A burial authority within the meaning of this section, other than a parish meeting, shall also be a burial authority for the purposes of the Cremation Acts 1902 and 1952. (6) A burial authority may contribute towards any expenses incurred by any other person in providing or maintaining a cemetery in which the inhabitants of the authority’s area may be buried. (7) Schedule 26 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the exercise of functions of burial authorities and the management of cemeteries and crematoria and for making amendments and modifications of the enactments relating to cemeteries and crematoria. (8) In this section and that Schedule “cemetery” includes a burial ground or any other place for the interment of the dead (including any part of any such place set aside for the interment of a dead person’s ashes).

215 Maintenance of a closed churchyard.

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, where outside the area subject to the Welsh Church Act 1914 a churchyard has been closed by an Order in Council, the parochial church council shall maintain it by keeping it in decent order and its walls and fences in good repair. (2) A parochial church council which is liable under subsection (1) above to maintain a closed churchyard may— (a) if the churchyard is in a parish or community having a separate parish or community council, serve a written request on that council to take over the maintenance of the churchyard; (b) if the churchyard is in a parish not having a separate parish council, serve such a request on the chairman of the parish meeting; (c) if the churchyard is in a community not having a separate community council, serve such a request on the council of the county or county borough in which the community is situated; or (d) if the churchyard is in England elsewhere than the City and the Temples and is not in any parish, serve such a request on the council of the district or London borough in which the churchyard is situated; and, subject to subsection (3) below, the maintenance of the churchyard shall be taken over by the authority on whom the request is served or the parish meeting, as the case may be, three months after service of the request. (3) If, pursuant to subsection (2) above, a request is served on a parish or community council or the chairman of a parish meeting and, if that council or meeting so resolve and, before the expiration of the said three months, give written notice of the resolution to the council of the district, Welsh county or (as the case may be) county borough and to the parochial church council maintaining the churchyard, the local authority to whom the notice is given , and not the parish or community council or parish meeting, shall take over the maintenance of the churchyard at the expiration of the said three months. (4) Where before the passing of this Act a church council established under the constitution of the Church in Wales, in purported exercise of the powers conferred by section 18 of the Burial Act 1855 (maintenance of closed churchyard payable out of rates), issued a certificate with respect to a closed churchyard to a local authority, and that authority thereupon took over the maintenance of the churchyard, the authority’s action shall be deemed to have been lawful for all purposes, and the authority for the time being responsible for the maintenance of the churchyard shall have the like duty with respect to its maintenance as a parochial church council elsewhere than the area subject to the Welsh Church Act 1914. (5) In subsection (1) above, “the area subject to the Welsh Church Act 1914” means the area in which the Church of England was disestablished by that Act.

216 Adaptation of law relating to old counties.

(1) For the purposes of commissions of the peace and the law relating to justices of the peace, magistrates’ courts, the custos rotulorum, lieutenants, sheriffs and matters connected with any of those matters, new counties shall, without prejudice to section 179(1) above, be substituted for counties of any other description. (2) For the purposes of this section and sections . . . , 218 and 219 below the Isles of Scilly shall be deemed to form part of the county of Cornwall.

217

(1)—(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

218 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

219 Sheriffs and under-sheriffs.

(1) Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instrument to a sheriff shall be construed accordingly in relation to sheriffs for a county or Greater London. (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3) The rights of Her Majesty in right of the Duchy of Lancaster in relation to the appointment of high sheriffs shall apply throughout the whole of the counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire . . .. (4) The Lord Chancellor may by order prescribe the area for which each under-sheriff is to act. (5) Where the area for which an under-sheriff acts is situated in two or more counties, the duty imposed by section 23 of the Sheriffs Act 1887 of appointing the under-sheriff for that area shall be discharged by the high sheriff of the county containing the greater part of that area, after consulting any other high sheriff concerned, and if any question arises as to which county contains the greater part of an under-sheriff’s area, it shall be determined by the Lord Chancellor. References in this subsection to a county include references both to Greater London and to the City (including the Temples). (6) An under-sheriff shall as respects the area for which he acts be treated as the high sheriff’s deputy for the purpose of all the high sheriff’s functions, except his functions as returning officer at parliamentary elections. (7) No privileges or duties of a sheriff shall be exercisable . . . by the bailiff of a franchise. (8) In this section “county” has the same meaning as in the Sheriffs Act 1887 and“Greater London” does not include the City or the Temples. (9) In subsections (1) and (5) above “county”, in relation to Wales, means a preserved county.

220 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

221 Abolition of borough civil courts.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

222 Power of local authorities to prosecute or defend legal proceedings.

(1) Where a local authority or a combined authority or combined county authority consider it expedient for the promotion or protection of the interests of the inhabitants of their area— (a) they may prosecute or defend or appear in any legal proceedings and, in the case of civil proceedings, may institute them in their own name, and (b) they may, in their own name, make representations in the interests of the inhabitants at any public inquiry held by or on behalf of any Minister or public body under any enactment. (2) In this section “local authority” includes the Common Council , a corporate joint committee and 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. (3) In the application of subsection (1) to a corporate joint committee, the reference to the corporate joint committee’s area is to be read as a reference to the area specified as the corporate joint committee’s area in regulations under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 establishing the corporate joint committee.

223 Appearance of local authorities in legal proceedings.

(1) Any member or officer of a local authority who is authorised by that authority to prosecute or defend on their behalf, or to appear on their behalf in, proceedings before a magistrates’ court shall be entitled to prosecute or defend or to appear in any such proceedings, and, to conduct any such proceedings. (2) In this section “local authority” includes the Common Council , a corporate joint committee , a joint authority, an economic prosperity board, a combined authority, a combined county authority, a fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, ... the Greater London Authority and , a police and crime commissioner and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime ... ...

224 Arrangements by principal councils for custody of documents.

(1) Without prejudice to the powers of the custos rotulorum to give directions as to the documents of any county, a principal council shall make proper arrangements with respect to any documents which belong to or are in the custody of the council or any of their officers. (2) This section applies to a joint authority , economic prosperity board , combined authority or combined county authority ... as it applies to a principal council. (3) In subsection (1) above “county”, in relation to Wales, means a preserved county.

225 Deposit of documents with proper officer of authority, etc.

(1) In any case in which a document of any description is deposited with the proper officer of a local authority, or with the chairman of a parish or community council or with the chairman of a parish meeting, pursuant to the standing orders of either House of Parliament or to any enactment or instrument, the proper officer or chairman, as the case may be, shall receive and retain the document in the manner and for the purposes directed by the standing orders or enactment or instrument, and shall make such notes or endorsements on, and give such acknowledgments and receipts in respect of, the document as may be so directed. (2) All documents required by any enactment or instrument to be deposited with the proper officer of a parish or community shall, in the case of a parish or community not having a separate parish or community council, be deposited in England with the chairman of the parish meeting or in Wales with the proper officer of the principal council. (3) In this section “local authority” includes a joint authority , a corporate joint committee , an economic prosperity board , a combined authority and a combined county authority

226 Custody of parish and community documents.

(1) All specified papers of a parish or community shall— (a) in the case of a parish which is co-extensive with an existing rural parish, remain in the same custody as before 1st April 1974; and (b) in the case of any other parish or any community, be in the custody of the body to which the documents of that area, other than documents of a specified class, are transferred on that date; but the parish or community council or, in the case of a parish or community not having a separate parish or community council, the parish meeting in England or the principal council in Wales may direct that any such papers shall be deposited in such custody as may be specified in the direction. (2) Nothing in this Act shall affect the custody of registers of baptisms, marriages and burials and of all other documents containing entries wholly or partly relating to the affairs of the church, as defined by the Local Government Act 1894, or to ecclesiastical charities, as so defined, except documents directed by law to be kept with the papers of a parish or community. (3) Any person having the custody of any documents mentioned in subsection (2) above shall have reasonable access to the papers mentioned in subsection (1) above and— (a) in a parish or community having a separate parish or community council, that council; (b) in any other parish, the parish meeting; (c) in any other community, the principal council; and (d) in any area in England not falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above, the district council, London borough council or Common Council, as the case may be; shall have reasonable access to the documents mentioned in subsection (2) above. (4) Any difference about the custody of or access to any documents mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) above shall, if the area is in Wales or in a metropolitan district, London borough or the City, be determined by the Secretary of State and in any other case by the county council. (5) The council of every county or metropolitan district shall from time to time enquire into the manner in which specified papers under the control of a parish . . . or parish meeting in their area are kept with a view to their proper preservation, and shall make such orders as they think necessary for their preservation, and those orders shall be complied with by the parish . . . or parish meeting. (6) Subsection (5) above shall also apply in relation to community councils but as if the functions conferred by it were functions of the principal council.

227 Provision of depositories for parish and community documents.

(1) In the case of a parish or community having a separate parish or community council that council or, if they so request, the council of the district in which the parish . . . is situated or the council of the principal area in which the community is situated, shall provide proper depositories for all the specified papers belonging to the parish or community for which no provision is otherwise made. (2) In the case of a parish or community not having a separate parish or community council, the council of the district in which the parish . . . is situated or the council of the principal area in which the community is situated shall provide proper depositories for all the specified papers under the control of the parish meeting or belonging to the community but in England only with the consent of the parish meeting of the parish.

228 Inspection of documents.

(A1) A copy of the minutes of proceedings of a community council must, so far as reasonably practicable, be supplied on request to a local government elector for the area of the council; and a reasonable fee may be charged for providing a copy of the minutes. (1) The minutes of proceedings of a parish ... council shall be open to the inspection of any local government elector for the area of the the council and any such local government elector may make a copy of or extract from the minutes. (2) A local government elector for the area of a local authority may inspect and make a copy of or extract from an order for the payment of money made by the local authority. (3) The accounts of a local authority and of any proper officer of a local authority shall be open to the inspection of any member of the authority, and any such member may make a copy of or extract from the accounts. (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) Subject to any provisions to the contrary in any other enactment or instrument, a person interested in any document deposited as mentioned in section 225 above may, at all reasonable hours, inspect and make copies thereof or extracts therefrom on payment to the person having custody thereof of the sum of 10p for every such inspection, and of the further sum of 10p for every hour during which such inspection continues after the first hour. (6) A document directed by any of subsections (1) to (5) of this section to be open to inspection shall be so open at all reasonable hours and, except where otherwise expressly provided, without payment. (7) If a person having the custody of any such document— (a) obstructs any person entitled to inspect the document or to make a copy thereof or extract therefrom in inspecting the document or making a copy or extract, (b) refuses to give copies or extracts to any person entitled to obtain copies or extracts, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale. (7A) This section shall apply to the minutes of proceedings and the accounts of a joint authority , an economic prosperity board, , a combined authority or a combined county authority ... ... ... as if that authority were a local authority and as if, ..., references to a local government elector for the area of the authority were a reference to a local government elector for any local government area in the area for which the authority is established. (7B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8) This section shall apply to the minutes of proceedings and to the accounts of a parish meeting as if that meeting were a parish council. (9) In relation to the Broads Authority, the references in this section to a local government elector for the area of the authority shall be construed as references to a local government elector for the area of any of the local authorities mentioned in section 1(3)(a) of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act 1988. (10) Subsections (2) to (7) apply to a corporate joint committee as they apply to a local authority and, in that application, references to a local government elector for the area of the authority are to be read as references to a local government elector for any local government area in the area specified as the corporate joint committee’s area in regulations under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 establishing the corporate joint committee.

229 Photographic copies of documents.

(1) Subject to subsections (3) and (7) below, any requirement imposed by any enactment that a local authority or parish meeting shall keep a document of any description shall be satisfied by their keeping a photographic copy of the document. (2) Subject to subsection (7) below, any requirement imposed by any enactment that a document of any description in the custody or under the control of a local authority or parish meeting shall be made available for inspection shall be satisfied by their making available for inspection a photographic copy of the document. (3) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to any document deposited with a local authority under the Public Records Act 1958. (4) In legal proceedings a photographic copy of a document in the custody of a local authority or parish meeting, or of a document which has been destroyed while in the custody of a local authority or parish meeting, or of any part of any such document, shall, subject to subsection (6) below, be admissible in evidence to the like extent as the original. (5) A certificate purporting to be signed by the proper officer of the local authority, or the chairman of the parish meeting, concerned that a document is such a photographic copy as is mentioned in subsection (4) above, shall, subject to subsection (7) below, be evidence to that effect. (6) The court before which a photographic copy is tendered in evidence in pursuance of subsection (4) above may, if the original is in existence, require its production and thereupon that subsection shall not apply to the copy. (7) A photographic copy of a document in colour where the colours are relevant to the interpretation of the document shall not suffice for the purposes of this section unless it so distinguishes between the colours as to enable the document to be interpreted. (8) In this section “court” and “legal proceedings” have the same meanings as in the Civil Evidence Act 1968 and “local authority” includes a corporate joint committee, a joint authority, an economic prosperity board, a combined authority ... , a combined county authority, a fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, a police and crime commissioner and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime ... ...

230 Reports and returns.

(1) Every local authority, every joint board and every joint committee of local authorities shall send the Secretary of State such reports and returns, and give him such information with respect to their functions, as he may require or as may be required by either House of Parliament. (2) In this section “local authority” includes a joint authority , an economic prosperity board , a combined authority and a combined county authority ... .

231 Service of notices on local authorities, etc.

(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, any notice, order or other document required or authorised by any enactment or any instrument made under an enactment to be given to or served on a local authority or the chairman or an officer of a local authority shall be given or served by addressing it to the local authority and leaving it at, or sending it by post to, the principal office of the authority or any other office of the authority specified by them as one at which they will accept documents of the same description as that document. (2) Any notice, order or other document so required or authorised to be given to or served on a parish meeting, or the chairman of the parish meeting, shall be given or served by addressing it to the chairman of the parish meeting and by delivering it to him, or by leaving it at his last known address, or by sending it by post to him at that address. (3) The foregoing provisions of this section do not apply to a document which is to be given or served in any proceedings in court, but except as aforesaid the methods of giving or serving documents provided for by those provisions are in substitution for the methods provided for by any other enactment or any instrument made under an enactment so far as it relates to the giving or service of documents to or on a local authority, the chairman or an officer of a local authority or a parish meeting or the chairman of a parish meeting. (4) In this section “local authority” includes a corporate joint committee, a joint authority, an economic prosperity board, a combined authority ... , a combined county authority, a fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, a police and crime commissioner and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime ... .... (5) In the application of subsection (1) to a corporate joint committee— (a) references to the chairman are to be read as references to the chairperson of the corporate joint committee, and (b) references to the principal office are to be read as references to— (i) the principal office of the corporate joint committee, or (ii) a principal office of a local authority for a county or county borough in Wales which is within the area specified as the corporate joint committee’s area in regulations under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 establishing the corporate joint committee.

232 Public notices.

(1) Save as otherwise expressly provided, a public notice required to be given by a local authority shall be given— (a) by posting the notice in some conspicuous place or places within the area of the local authority; ... (b) in such other manner, if any, as appears to the local authority to be desirable for giving publicity to the notice. ; and (c) where the local authority is a local authority in Wales, by publishing it electronically. (1ZA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1A) In subsection (1) above “local authority” includes a corporate joint committee, a joint authority, an economic prosperity board, a combined authority ... , a combined county authority, a fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, a police and crime commissioner and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime ... .... (1B) In the application of subsection (1) to a corporate joint committee, the reference to the corporate joint committee’s area is to be read as a reference to the area specified as the corporate joint committee’s area in regulations under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 establishing the corporate joint committee. (2) This section shall apply to a public notice required to be given by the chairman of a parish meeting as it applies to public notices required to be given by a parish council. (3) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations make further or different provision about the manner of giving a public notice required to be given by a local authority in Wales. (4) Regulations under subsection (3) may also make provision about the manner of giving a public notice required to be given by— (a) a National Park authority for a National Park in Wales; (b) a fire and rescue authority constituted by a scheme under section 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, or a scheme to which section 4 of that Act applies, for an area in Wales. (5) Regulations under subsection (3) may— (a) make different provision for different purposes; (b) include supplementary, incidental, consequential, transitional, transitory or saving provision (including provision amending, modifying, repealing or revoking any enactment (including this Act and the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021)). (6) A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (3) must not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by resolution of Senedd Cymru.

233 Service of notices by local authorities.

(1) Subject to subsection (8) below, subsections (2) to (5) below shall have effect in relation to any notice, order or other document required or authorised by or under any enactment to be given to or served on any person by or on behalf of a local authority or by an officer of a local authority. (2) Any such document may be given to or served on the person in question either 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 document may— (a) in the case of a body corporate, be given to or served on the secretary or clerk of that body; (b) in the case of a partnership, be given to or served on a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business. (4) For the purposes of this section and of section 26 of the Interpretation Act 1889 (service of documents by post) in its application to this section, the proper address of any person to or on whom a document is to be given or served 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 management of the partnership business, it shall be that of 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 given or served with any document mentioned in subsection (1) above 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 documents of the same description as that document, that address shall also be treated for the purposes of this section and section 26 of the Interpretation Act 1889 as his proper address. (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (7) If the name or address of any owner, lessee or occupier of land to or on whom any document mentioned in subsection (1) above is to be given or served cannot after reasonable inquiry be ascertained, the document may be given or served either by leaving it in the hands of a person who is or appears to be resident or employed on the land or by leaving it conspicuously affixed to some building or object on the land. (8) This section shall apply to a document required or authorised by or under any enactment to be given to or served on any person by or on behalf of the chairman of a parish meeting as it applies to a document so required or authorised to be given to or served on any person by or on behalf of a local authority. (9) The foregoing provisions of this section do not apply to a document which is to be given or served in any proceedings in court. (10) Except as aforesaid and subject to any provision of any enactment or instrument excluding the foregoing provisions of this section, the methods of giving or serving documents which are available under those provisions are in addition to the methods which are available under any other enactment or any instrument made under any enactment. (11) In this section “local authority” includes a joint authority, an economic prosperity board, a combined authority, a combined county authority, a fire and rescue authority created by an order under section 4A of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, ... , a police and crime commissioner and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime ... ....