Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980

General E+W+S

20 Interpretation of Part III. E+W+S

(1) In this Part of this Act—

• “appointed day ” shall be construed in accordance with section 23 below;

• “construction or maintenance work ” means, subject to subsections (2) [F1 to (4)] below—

  (a)

  building or engineering work involved in the construction, improvement, maintenance or repair of buildings and other structures or in the laying out, construction, improvement, maintenance or repair of highways and other land, and

  (b)

  the gritting of or clearing of snow from highways;

  (c)

  [F2 the maintenance of street lighting;]

• “development body ” means—

  (a)

  in relation to England and Wales—

  (i)

  the Commission for New Towns;

  (ii)

  a development corporation established under the [F3 M1 New Towns Act 1981] . . . F4

  (iii)

  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F4

  (b)

  in relation to Scotland—

  (i)

  any body established under section 3 or 5 of the M2 Water (Scotland) Act 1967;

  (ii)

  a development corporation established under the M3 New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968; and

  (iii)

  the Scottish Special Housing Association;

  (c)

  in relation to England and Wales and to Scotland, an urban development corporation established under this Act;

• “DLO revenue account ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10(1) above;

• “functional work ” shall be construed in accordance with section 8 above;

• [F5 “highway ”, in relation to Scotland, means a road as defined in section 151 of the M4 Roads (Scotland) Act 1984;]

• “local authority ” means—

  (a)

  [F6 in relation to England F7 . . .—

  (aa)

  [F8 in relation to Wales, a county council or county borough council or a police authority established under section 3 of the M5 Police Act 1964;]

  (i)

  a county council, a district council, a London borough council, [F9 a police authority established under section 3 of the M6 Police Act 1964][F10 the Inner London Education Authority], a joint authority established by Part IV of the M7 Local Government Act 1985 or the Council of the Isles of Scilly, or

  (ii)

  The Common Council of the City of London on its capacity as loal authority or police authority;]

  (b)

  in relation to Scotland, a regional, islands or district council;

• “works contract ” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (1) of section 5 above; and

• “the 1970 Act ” has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph (a) of that subsection.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) above, in this Act “construction or maintenance work " does not include—

(a) work relating to parks, gardens, playing fields, open spaces or allotments, except to the extent that the work relates to a building or structure; or

(b) the routine maintenance of a specific building or structure or of specific buildings or structures by a person [F11 who—

(i) is employed to perform duties in relation to that building or structure, or those buildings or structures; but

(ii) spends the greater part of the time required for performing the duties of his employment in the carrying out of work which is neither routine maintenance nor work of any other description falling within the meaning, for the purposes of this Part of this Act, of construction or maintenance work.]

[F12 (2A) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) above, and without prejudice to subsection (2) above, in the application of this Act to Scotland “construction or maintenance work " in relation to—

(a) sewage treatment works (within the meaning of the M8 Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968); or

(b) waterworks (within the meaning of the M9 Water (Scotland) Act 1980),

does not include works of maintenance (within the meaning of the M10 Local Authorities (Goods and Services) Act 1970) by a person employed wholly or mainly in connection with such treatment works or as the case may be waterworks]

(3) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) above, in this Act “construction or maintenance work " does not include work undertaken by a local authority authorised by any enactment to carry on a dock or harbour undertaking if that work is undertaken for the purposes of or in connection with that undertaking.

[F13 (4) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) above, in this Act “construction or maintenance work " does not include work undertaken by a local authority or a development body pursuant to an agreement made (or having effect as if made) with the Secretary of State on or after 1st April 1982—

(a) which is made by virtue of any provision of the Employment and Training Act 1973;

(b) which specifies the work to be undertaken by the authority or body; and

(c) under which the whole or part of the cost of the work so specified is to be paid by the Secretary of State]

[F14 (5) If a local authority or development body undertake work which (apart from this subsection)would not fall within construction or maintenance work, and which in their opinion cannot be undertaken efficiently separately from construction or maintenance work, the work shall (if they so decide) be treated as falling within construction or maintenance work.

(6) In section 10(3)(c) above and subsection (1) above, in paragraph (c) of the definition of “construction or maintenance work ", “street " (except in relation to Scotland) has the meaning given by section 329(1) of the M11 Highways Act 1980 and (in relation to Scotland) means a road as defined in section 25(3) of the M12 Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982.

(7) Nothing in sections 19A and 19B above shall prejudice any remedy available to a person (apart from those sections) in respect of failure to observe a provision of this Part of this Act.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 (c. 30, SIF 81:1), s. 38(2)

F2 Para. (c) and the word “and " preceding it inserted (1.10.1988) by Local Government Act 1988 (c. 9, SIF 81:1, 2), 32, Sch. 6 para 10(2)

F3 Words substituted by New Towns Act 1981 (c. 64 SIF 123:3), s. 81, Sch. 12 para. 28(b)

F4 Sub-para (iii) and the word “and " at the end of sub-para (ii) repealed by Local Government Act 1988 (c. 9, SIF 81:1, 2), ss. 32, 41, Sch. 6 para 10(3), Sch. 7 Pt. II (subject to the provision at the end of that Part)

F5 Definition inserted (S.) by Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54, SIF 108), s. 156(1), Sch. 9 para. 82

F6 Para. (a) substituted by Local Government Act 1988 (c. 9, SIF 81:1, 2), s. 32, Sch. 6 para. 10(4)

F7 S. 20(1): words in para. (a) in definition of

“local authority ”

repealed (3.4.1995) by 1994 c. 19, s. 66(6)(8), Sch. 16 para. 57(3), Sch. 18 (with ss. 54(5)(7), 55(5), Sch. 17 paras. 22(1), 23(2)); S.I. 1995/852, art. 9(1), Sch. 5

F8 S. 20(1): para. (aa) in definition of

“local authority ”

inserted (3.4.1995) by 1994 c. 19, s. 66(6), Sch. 16 para. 57(3) (with ss. 54(5)(7), 55(5), Sch. 17 paras. 22(1), 23(2)); S.I. 1995/852, art. 9(1), Sch. 5

F9 S. 20(1): words in para. (a)(i) in definition of

“local authority ”

substituted (1.10.1994 for certain purposes and 1.4.1995 otherwise) by 1994 c. 29, s. 43, Sch. 4 Pt. I para. 20; S.I. 1994/2025, art. 6(1)(2)(6); S.I. 1994/3262, art. 4(1), Sch.

F10 Words repealed (1.4.1990) by Education Reform Act 1988 (c. 40, SIF 41:1), s. 237, Sch. 13 Pt. I

F11 Words in s. 20(2) substituted (14.3.1994) by Local Government Act 1992 (c. 19), s. 11, Sch. 1 para. 8; S.I. 1992/3241, art. 4.

F12 S. 20(2A) inserted (S.) by Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 43, SIF 81:2), s. 56

F13 S. 20(4) substituted by virtue of Employment Act 1989 (c. 38, SIF 43:1), s. 29(3), Sch. 6 para. 27

F14 S. 20(5)–(7) inserted (24.6.1988 as to s. 20(5) and 1.10.1988 as to s. 20(6)(7)) by Local Government Act 1988 (c. 9, SIF 81:1, 2), s. 32, Sch. 6 para 10(6)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 20(1) extended by S.I. 1985/1884, art. 10, Sch. 3 para 4(s)

Marginal Citations

M1 1981 c. 64 (123:3)

M2 1967 c. 78 (130).

M3 1968 c. 16 (123:4).

M4 1984 c. 54 (108).

M5 1964 c. 48.

M6 1964 c. 48.

M7 1985 c. 51 (81:1).

M8 1968 c. 47 (160:2).

M9 1980 c. 45 (130)

M10 1970 c. 39 (81:4)

M11 1980 c. 60 (59).

M12 1982 c. 43 (81:2).

21 Exemption of small direct labour organisations from requirements of Part III. E+W+S

(1) This Part of this Act does not apply to a local authority or development body in any year if they did not in the previous year at any one time employ more than thirty persons, other than persons excluded by subsection (2) below, who were engaged (whether wholly or partly) in carrying out construction or maintenance work.

(2) The persons excluded by this subsection are persons engaged wholly or mainly upon the design, development or control of construction or maintenance work.

(3) The Secretary of State may by order specify for the purposes of subsection (1) above a number of persons less than thirty.

(4) The power to make an order conferred by subsection (3) above shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

(5) A statutory instrument containing any such order shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(6) The Secretary of State may direct that this Part of this Act shall not apply to a local authority or development body in any year if he is satisfied that the only reason why it would apply to that authority or body is that at some time in the previous year the number of their employees engaged in construction or maintenance work exceeded the relevant number because it was necessary to exceed that number in order to carry out urgent construction or maintenance work whose necessity could not reasonably have been foreseen by the authority or body.

(7) In subsection (6) above “the relevant number " means thirty or such lesser number as may for the time being be specified for the purposes of subsection (1) above.

[F15 (8) In this section “year ” means financial year.]

Textual Amendments

F15 S. 21(8) added by Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 (c. 30, SIF 81:1), s. 47, Sch. 6 para. 8(1)

22 Consequential repeal or amendment of local statutory provisions. E+W+S

(1) the Secretary of State may by order—

(a) repeal any provision of a local Act passed before or in the same session as this Act or of an order or other instrument made under or confirmed by any Act so passed if it appears to him that the provision is inconsistent with or has become unnecessary in consequence of any provision of this Part of this Act ; and

(b) amend any provision of such a local Act, order or instrument if it appears to him that the provision requires amendment in consequence of any provision contained in this Part of this Act or any repeal made by virtue of paragraph (a) above.

(2) An order under subsection (1) above may contain such incidental or transitional provisions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in connection with the order.

(3) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, before he makes an order under subsection (1) above repealing or amending any provision of a local Act, to consult each local authority which he considers would be affected by the repeal or amendment of that provision.

(4) A statutory instrument containing an order under subsection (1) above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

23 Part III—supplementary E+W+S

(1) Any power to make regulations or give directions conferred by this Part of this Act [F16 and the power under section 16(1) above to specify a financial objective for local authorities and development bodies,] includes power to make different provision in relation to local authorities or development bodies in England, in Wales and in Scotland.

(2) Any power to make regulations conferred by this Part of this Act shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

(3) This Part of this Act, except this section, shall come into operation on such day as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint, and different days may be so appointed for different provisions and for different purposes ; and any reference in any provision of this Part of this Act to the appointed day is a reference to the day appointed under this section for the coming into operation of that provision or, if different days are so appointed for different purposes of that provision, the first day so appointed.

Textual Amendments

F16 Words in s. 23(1) inserted (13.6.1994) by Local Government Act 1992 (c. 19), s. 11, Sch. 1 para.9; S.I. 1994/1445, art. 2

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C2 1.4.1981 appointed (E.W.) under s. 23(3), except for s. 16(1) which comes into operation for specified purposes on 1.4.1982 and for other purposes on 1.4.1981, by S.I. 1981/341, art. 2

C3 1.4.1982 appointed under s. 23(3) for the coming into operation (S.) of Part III except s. 15(2)(3) by S.I. 1982/317, art. 2