National Insurance Act 1965

Administration.

88 National Insurance Advisory Committee.

(1) There shall be a committee, which shall be known as the National Insurance Advisory Committee, to give advice and assistance to the Minister in connection with the discharge of his functions under this Act and to perform any other duties allotted to them under this Act.

(2) The provisions of Schedule 8 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the constitution of the said Committee and other matters relating to the Committee.

(3) The Minister may from time to time refer to the said Committee for consideration and advice such questions relating to the operation of this Act as he thinks fit (including questions as to the advisability of amending this Act).

(4) The Minister shall furnish the said Committee with such information as they may reasonably require for the proper discharge of their functions under this Act.

89 Local advisory committees.

(1) Regulations may provide for the reference to local committees representing employers or insured persons or both, for consideration and advice, of questions bearing upon the administration of this Act, and for the payment by the Minister to the members of any such committee, and to persons attending its meetings at the request of the committee, of such expenses and travelling and other allowances (including compensation for loss of remunerative time) as the Minister with the consent of the Treasury may determine.

(2) The persons selected as members of any such committee may include persons put forward by organisations concerned with the interests of employers or insured persons, including friendly societies or organisations representative of friendly societies.

90 Inspectors.

(1) For the purposes of this Act, the Minister may appoint such inspectors as he may with the consent of the Treasury determine, and pay to them such salaries or remuneration as may be so determined.

(2) An inspector appointed under this Act, shall for the purposes of the execution of this Act, have power to do all or any of the following things, namely—

(a) to enter at all reasonable times any premises or place liable to inspection under this section;

(b) to make such examination and inquiry as may be necessary for ascertaining whether the provisions of this Act or any enactment re-enacted thereby are being or have been complied with in any such premises or place;

(c) to examine, either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, with respect to any matters under this Act on which he may reasonably require information, every person whom he finds in any such premises or place, or whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been an insured person, and to require every such person to be so examined;

(d) to exercise such other powers as may be necessary for carrying this Act into effect.

(3) The occupier of any premises or place liable to inspection under this section, and any person who is or has been employing any person, and the servants and agents of any such occupier or other person, and any insured person, shall furnish to an inspector all such information and produce for inspection all such documents as the inspector may reasonably require for the purpose of ascertaining whether contributions are or have been payable, or have been duly paid, by or in respect of any person, or whether benefit is or was payable to or in respect of any person.

(4) If any person—

(a) wilfully delays or obstructs an inspector in the exercise of any power under this section; or

(b) refuses or neglects to answer any question or to furnish any information or to produce any document when required so to do under this section,

he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds in the case of a first offence under this subsection and not exceeding fifty pounds in the case of a second or subsequent such offence:

Provided that no one shall be required under this section to answer any questions or to give any evidence tending to incriminate himself.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4) of this section, an offence shall be deemed not to be a first offence if the offender has previously been found guilty of an offence under section 64(4) of the Industrial Injuries Act or under section 49(4) of the Act of 1946 or section 62(4) of the Industrial Injuries Act of 1946.

(6) Every inspector shall be furnished with a certificate of his appointment, and on applying for admission to any premises or place for the purposes of this Act shall, if so required, produce the said certificate.

(7) The premises and places liable to inspection under this section are any premises or places where an inspector appointed under this Act has reasonable ground for supposing that any persons are employed, except that they do not include any private dwelling-house not used by or by permission of the occupier for the purposes of a trade or business.

(8) Where any premises or place are or is liable to be inspected by an inspector or officer appointed or employed by, or are or is under the control of, some other government department, the Minister may make arrangements with that department for any of the powers or duties of inspectors under this section being carried out by an inspector or officer employed by that department, and, where such an arrangement is made, such inspectors or officers shall have all the powers of an inspector under this section.

91 Information as to, and proof of, age, marriage or death.

(1) Regulations made by the Registrar General under section 20 of the [1953 c. 37.] Registration Service Act 1953 may provide for the furnishing by superintendent registrars and registrars, subject to the payment of such fee as may be prescribed by the regulations, of such information for the purposes of this Act, including copies or extracts from the registers in their custody, as may be so prescribed.

(2) Where the age, marriage or death of a person is required to be ascertained or proved for the purposes of this Act, any person shall—

(a) on presenting to the custodian of the register under the enactments relating to the registration of births, marriages and deaths, wherein particulars of the birth, marriage or death, as the case may be, of the first-mentioned person are entered, a duly completed requisition in writing in that behalf; and

(b) on payment of a fee, in the case of a birth certificate, of sixpence and, in the case of a marriage or death certificate, of one shilling,

be entitled to obtain a copy, certified under the hand of the custodian, of the entry of those particulars.

(3) Requisitions for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section shall be in such form and contain such particulars as may from time to time be specified by the Registrar General, and suitable forms thereof shall, on request, be supplied without charge by every superintendent registrar and registrar.

(4) In the application of this section to England and Wales, the expression " Registrar General" means the Registrar General for England and Wales, and the expressions " superintendent registrar" and "registrar" mean a superintendent registrar or, as the case may be, registrar for the purposes of the enactments relating to the registration of births, deaths and marriages.

(5) In the application of this section to Scotland—

(a) the expression " Registrar General " means the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Scotland;

(b) for the reference in subsection (1) to section 20 of the [1953 c. 37.] Registration Service Act 1953 there shall be substituted a reference to section 6 of the [1854 c. 80.] Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1854;

(c) references to a superintendent registrar shall be omitted ;

(d) the expression " registrar" means a registrar for the purposes of the enactments relating to the registration of births, deaths and marriages in Scotland.

92 Exemption from stamp duty.

Stamp duty shall not be chargeable upon such documents used in connection with business under this Act as are specified in Schedule 9 to this Act.