For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary of State may appoint such inspectors, and pay to them such salaries or remuneration, as he may determine with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service.

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

Where any premises are liable to be inspected by an inspector or officer appointed or employed by, or are under the control of, some other government department, the Secretary of State may make arrangements with that department for any of the powers or duties of inspectors under this Act to be 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 Act.

In this section and section 145 below " premises " includes any place ; and in subsection (2)(b) and (c) above the references to this Act include the former principal Act and the former Industrial Injuries Act.

Where a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (3)(b) above and the refusal or neglect is continued by him after his conviction, he shall be guilty of a further offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not more than £10 for each day on which it is so continued.

If a person fails to pay, at or within the time prescribed for the purpose, any contribution which he is liable under Part I of this Act to pay, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not more than £50.

Subsection (1) above does not apply to Class 4 contributions recoverable by the Inland Revenue.

In this Act " contribution card " means any card issued under regulations for the purpose of payment of contributions by affixing stamps to it; and in any proceedings under subsection (3) above with respect to used stamps a stamp shall be deemed to have been used if it has been affixed to a contribution card or cancelled or defaced in any way whatsoever and whether or not it has actually been used for the payment of a contribution.

Proceedings in England and Wales for an offence under this Act shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Secretary of State or by an inspector or other officer authorised for that purpose by special or general directions of the Secretary of State.

An inspector or other officer so authorised may, although not of counsel or a solicitor, prosecute or conduct before a magistrates' court any proceedings for such an offence.

Notwithstanding any enactment prescribing the period within which summary proceedings may be commenced, proceedings for an offence under this Act may in England and Wales be commenced at any time within the period of 3 months from the date on which evidence, sufficient in the opinion of the Secretary of State to justify a prosecution for the offence, comes to his knowledge, or within the period of 12 months after the commission of the offence, whichever period last expires.

In Scotland, proceedings for an offence under this Act may be commenced at any time within the period of 3 months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the Secretary of State to justify a report to the Lord Advocate with a view to consideration of the question of prosecution comes to the knowledge of the Secretary of State, or within the period of 12 months after the commission of the offence, whichever period last expires.

Section 23(2) of the M1Summary Jurisdiction (Scotland) Act 1954 (time limits) shall apply for the purposes of this subsection as it applies for the purposes of that section.

For the purposes of subsections (3) and (4) above, a certificate purporting to be signed by or on behalf of the Secretary of State as to the date on which the evidence in question came to his knowledge is conclusive evidence of the date on which it did so.

In proceedings for an offence under this Act, the wife or husband of the accused is competent to give evidence, whether for or against the accused:

Provided that the wife or husband is not compellable either to give evidence or, in giving evidence, to disclose any communication made to her or him by the accused during the marriage.

Where an offence under this Act which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and be liable to be proceeded against accordingly.

Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, this subsection applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

If a decision of any such question is necessary for the determination of proceedings, and the decision of the Secretary of State has not been obtained or a question has been raised with a view to a review of the decision obtained, the question shall be referred to the Secretary of State for determination or review in accordance (subject to any necessary modifications) with Part III of this Act.

Subsection (1) above does not apply if an appeal under section 94 is pending, or the time for appealing has not expired, or a question has been raised with a view to a review of the Secretary of State's decision; and the court dealing with the case shall adjourn the proceedings until such time as a final decision on the question has been obtained.