The Local Government Act 1988 (Defined Activities) (Competition) (Wales) Regulations 1988

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 6(3) of the Local Government Act 1988 enables the Secretary of State to require that an authority mentioned in section 1(1) of the Act (a defined authority) may carry out functional work falling within an activity listed in section 2(2) and described in schedule 1 of the Act (a defined activity), only after subjecting the work to competition. These Regulations specify the dates from which and the circumstances in which those bodies which are defined authorities (“specified authorities”) in Wales may not carry out functional work without first exposing it to competition.

Ifthey wish to carry out the work on or after 1st August 1989, all such specified authorities (with the exception of local authorities and county police authorities) are required to compete for work falling within any defined activity other than ground maintenance; all county councils are required to compete for refuse collection; and all district councils are required to compete for school and welfare catering. Community councils are required to compete for work falling within any description of defined activity other than ground maintenance where they wish to carry out the work on or after 1 August 1990. (regulation 3).

If they wish to carry out ground maintenance work on or after 1st January 1990, community councils and all other defined authorities who are neither local authorities nor county police authorities are required to compete for it. Other specified authorities who wish to carry out such work between 1st January 1990 and 1st January 1994 are required to subject varying percentages to competition and from 1st January 1994 they are required to compete for all of it (regulation 4).

All other work falling within any description of defined activity is to be competed for by the groups of local and county police authorities listed in the Schedule in accordance with the timetables there set out (regulation 5).

If any specified authority wishes to carry out work falling within a defined activity but for which competition is not required it may treat that work as if the competition requirements applied to it (regulation 6).