Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968

62 Registration

(1) Subject to the next following section, an application for registration in respect of an establishment under this section shall be made by the person intending to carry on the establishment to the local authority in the area of which the establishment is situated.

(2) The application shall be in such form and shall include information about such matters as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State may prescribe different requirements for the applications for different classes of establishments.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this section, the local authority shall, on receipt of an application under subsection (1) of this section, register the applicant in respect of the establishment named in the application and issue to him a certificate of registration:

Provided that the local authority may refuse to register the applicant if they are satisfied—

(a) that he or any person employed or proposed to be employed by him in the management of the establishment or any part thereof is not a fit person, whether by reason of age or otherwise, to carry on or to be so employed at an establishment of such a description as the establishment named in the application; or

(b) that for reasons connected with situation, construction, state of repair, accommodation, staffing or equipment, the establishment or any premises used in connection therewith are not fit to be used for an establishment of such a description as aforesaid; or

(c) that the way in which it is proposed to conduct the establishment is such as not to provide services or facilities reasonably required by persons resorting to such an establishment.

(4) The local authority may at any time cancel the registration of a person in respect of an establishment on any ground which would entitle them to refuse an application for the registration of that person in respect of that establishment, or on the ground that that person has been convicted of an offence against this section or against any regulations under this Part of this Act relating to the conduct of establishments, or on the ground that any other person has been convicted of such an offence in respect of that establishment.

(5) It shall be a condition of the registration of any person in respect of an establishment that the number of persons accommodated at any one time in the establishment (excluding persons carrying on or employed in the establishment and their families) does not exceed such number as may be specified in the certificate of registration; and without prejudice to the foregoing provision, the registration may be effected subject to such conditions (to be specified in the certificate) as the local authority consider appropriate for regulating the category of persons who may be received in the establishment.

(6) If any condition imposed by or under the last foregoing subsection is not complied with, the person carrying on the establishment shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment, and without prejudice to the foregoing provision the power of the local authority to cancel registration under subsection (4) of this section shall include power to cancel the registration on the ground that any such condition has not been complied with.

(7) The certificate of registration under this section issued in respect of any establishment shall be kept affixed in a conspicuous place in the establishment; and if default is made in complying with this subsection the person carrying on the establishment shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and to a further fine not exceeding two pounds in respect of each day during which the offence continues after conviction.

(8) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) of this section, where the person registered under this section in respect of an establishment dies, his executor or his widow or any other member of his family may for a period not exceeding four weeks from his death, or such longer period as the local authority may sanction, carry on the establishment without being registered in respect thereof.

(9) Where an offence against this or the last foregoing section or any regulations under this Part of this Act relating to establishments has been committed by a body corporate, every person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, general manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or was purporting to act in any such capacity, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.

(10) The registers kept for the purposes of this section shall be available for inspection at all reasonable times, and a person inspecting any such register shall be entitled to make copies of entries therein.