Public Health (Wales) Act 2017

PART 6 HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

108 Requirement to carry out health impact assessments

(1) Regulations must make provision about the carrying out of health impact assessments by public bodies.

(2) A health impact assessment is an assessment of the likely effect, both in the short term and in the long term, of a proposed action or decision on the physical and mental health of the people of Wales or of some of the people of Wales.

(3) The regulations must specify—

(a) the circumstances in which a public body must carry out a health impact assessment;

(b) the way in which a health impact assessment is to be carried out.

(4) The regulations may require the Public Health Wales National Health Service Trust to give assistance to another public body carrying out a health impact assessment.

(5) The regulations may make provision about how the assistance is to be given, including (among other things) about when it is to be given.

(6) The regulations may make provision which applies subject to exceptions specified in the regulations.

(7) Before making regulations under this section, the Welsh Ministers must—

(a) consider whether there are persons who appear to be representative of the interests of those likely to be affected by the regulations (“representative persons”), and

(b) carry out consultation with any representative persons whom the Welsh Ministers consider it appropriate to consult.

109 Health impact assessments: publication and taking into account

(1) Where a public body has carried out a health impact assessment in accordance with regulations under section 108 it must—

(a) publish the assessment, and

(b) take the assessment into account when exercising those functions in connection with which the assessment was carried out.

(2) When taking the assessment into account, the public body must act in accordance with the sustainable development principle.

(3) For the purpose of subsection (2), the reference to acting in accordance with the sustainable development principle is to be construed in accordance with section 5 of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (anaw 2).

(4) Regulations may make provision about publishing assessments, including (among other things) about when assessments are to be published.

110 Meaning of “public body”

(1) For the purposes of sections 108 and 109, each of the following persons is a “public body”—

(a) the Welsh Ministers;

(b) a local authority;

(c) a Local Health Board;

(d) the following National Health Service Trusts—

(i) Public Health Wales;

(ii) Velindre;

(e) a National Park authority for a National Park in Wales;

(f) a Welsh fire and rescue authority;

(g) the Natural Resources Body for Wales;

(h) the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales;

(i) the Arts Council of Wales;

(j) the Sports Council for Wales;

(k) the National Library of Wales;

(l) the National Museum of Wales.

(2) Regulations may amend subsection (1) by—

(a) adding a person,

(b) removing a person, or

(c) amending a reference to a person.

(3) But the regulations may not amend subsection (1) by adding a person unless that person exercises functions of a public nature.

(4) If the regulations amend subsection (1) so as to add a person who has functions of a public nature and other functions, sections 108 and 109 apply to that person only in relation to those of its functions which are of a public nature.

(5) In this section—

• “Local Health Board” (“Bwrdd Iechyd Lleol”) means a Local Health Board established under section 11 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 (c.42);

• “Welsh fire and rescue authority” (“awdurdod tân ac achub yng Nghymru”) means an authority in Wales constituted by a scheme under section 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (c.21) or a scheme to which section 4 of that Act applies.