Food Act 1984

Notices, forms and continuances

122Notices

All notices, orders, consents, demands and other documents authorised or required by or under this Act to be given, made or issued by a council, and all notices and applications authorised or required by or under this Act to be given or made to, or to any officer of, a council shall be in writing.

123Power to prescribe documents

The appropriate Minister may by regulations prescribe the form of any notice, advertisement, certificate or other document to be used for any of the purposes of this Act and, if forms are so prescribed, those forms or forms to the like effect may be used in all cases to which those forms are applicable.

In this subsection " appropriate Minister "—

(a)in relation to the purposes of sections 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 and sections 28 and 31, means the Secretary of State;

(b)in relation to the purposes of Part III, means the Secretary of State; and

(c)in relation to other purposes, means the Minister.

124Authentication

(1)Any notice, order, consent, demand or other document which a council are authorised or required by or under this Act to give, make or issue may be signed on behalf of the council—

(a)by the proper officer of the council as respects documents relating to matters within his province; or

(b)by any officer of the council authorised by them in writing to sign documents of the particular kind or, as the case may be, the particular document.

(2)Any document purporting to bear the signature of an officer—

(a)expressed to hold an office by virtue of which he is under this section empowered to sign such a document, or

(b)expressed to be duly authorised by the council to sign such a document or the particular document,

shall for the purposes of this Act, and of any byelaws and orders made under it, be deemed, until the contrary is proved, to have been duly given, made or issued by authority of the council.

In this subsection " signature " includes a facsimile of a signature by whatever process reproduced.

125Service

Any notice, order, consent, demand or other document which is required or authorised by or under this Act to be given to or served on any person may, in any case for which no other provision is made by this Act, be given or served either—

(a)by delivering it to that person; or

(b)in the case of the proper officer of a council, by leaving it or sending it in a prepaid letter addressed to him, at either his residence or his office, and, in the case of any other officer of a council, by leaving it or sending it in a prepaid letter addressed to him, at his office; or

(c)in the case of any other person, by leaving it or sending it in a prepaid letter addressed to him, at his usual or last known residence; or

(d)in the case of an incorporated company or body, by delivering it to their secretary or clerk at their registered or principal office, or by sending it in a prepaid letter addressed to him at that office; or

(e)in the case of a document to be given to or served on person as being the owner of any premises by virtue of the fact that he receives the rackrent of the premises as agent for another, or would so receive it if the premises were let at a rackrent, by leaving it, or send-it in a prepaid letter addressed to him, at his place of business; or

(f)in the case of a document to be given to or served on the owner or the occupier of any premises, if it is not practicable after reasonable inquiry to ascertain the name and address of the person to or on whom it should be given or served, or if the premises are unoccupied, by addressing it to the person concerned by the description of "owner" or "occupier" of the premises (naming them) to which it relates, and—

(i)delivering it to some person on the premises; or

(ii)if there is no person on the premises to whom it can be delivered, by affixing it, or a copy of it, to some conspicuous part of the premises.

In this section, " owner ", " premises " and " rackrent" mean the same as in section 111.

126Continuances on death

Where a person dies—

(a)who holds a licence, or

(b)who is registered in respect of any premises,

under this Act or any regulations made under this Act, the licence or registration shall, unless previously revoked or cancelled, subsist for the benefit of his personal representative, 01 his widow or any other member of his family—

(i)until the expiry of two months from his death, or

(ii)until the expiry of such longer period as the licensing or registering authority may allow.