Water Resources Act 1991

Local inquiries

213 General powers to hold local inquiries

(1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act by virtue of which a local inquiry is authorised or required to be held, each of the Ministers shall have power to cause a local inquiry to be held in any case where it appears to him expedient to do so—

(a) in connection with any matter arising under Chapter II of Part II of this Act or the related water resources provisions; or

(b) otherwise in connection with any of the Authority’s functions.

(2) Without prejudice as aforesaid, the Secretary of State may cause a local inquiry to be held in any case in which he considers it appropriate for such an inquiry to be held—

(a) for the purposes of the establishment or review under section 83 above of any water quality objectives or otherwise in connection with any of the water pollution provisions of this Act;

(b) with a view to preventing or dealing with pollution of any controlled waters; or

(c) in relation to any other matter relevant to the quality of any such waters.

(3) In this section “controlled waters” has the same meaning as in Part III of this Act.

214 Power to hold inquiries for flood defence purposes etc

(1) Each of the Ministers shall have power to cause such inquiries to be held as he considers necessary or desirable for the purposes of the flood defence provisions of this Act.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, the person appointed to hold any inquiry under subsection (1) above or otherwise under the flood defence provisions of this Act may for the purposes of the inquiry—

(a) by summons require any person to attend, at a time and place stated in the summons, to give evidence or to produce any documents in his custody or under his control relating to any matter in question at the inquiry; and

(b) take evidence on oath and for that purpose administer oaths.

(3) No person shall be required, in obedience to a summons under this section, to attend to give evidence or to produce any documents, unless the necessary expenses of his attendance are paid or tendered to him; and nothing in this section shall empower a person holding an inquiry to require the production of the title, or of any instrument relating to the title, of any land which is not the property of a local authority.

(4) Any person who—

(a) refuses or deliberately fails to attend in obedience to a summons under this section, or to give evidence; or

(b) deliberately alters, suppresses, conceals, destroys, or refuses to produce any book or other document which he is required or is liable to be required to produce for the purposes of this section,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale or to both.

(5) Where either of the Ministers causes an inquiry to be held under this section—

(a) the costs incurred by him in relation to the inquiry shall be paid by such authority or party to the inquiry as he may direct; and

(b) the Minister in question may cause the amount of the costs so incurred to be certified;

and any amount so certified and directed to be paid by any authority or person shall be recoverable from that authority or person by that Minister summarily as a civil debt.

(6) Where either of the Ministers causes an inquiry to be held under this section—

(a) he may make orders as to the costs of the parties at the inquiry and as to the parties by whom the costs are to be paid; and

(b) every such order may be made a rule of the High Court on the application of any party named in the order.

(7) Section 42 of the [1986 c. 63.] Housing and Planning Act 1986 (recovery of Minister’s costs in connection with inquiries) shall apply where either of the Ministers is authorised by virtue of subsection (5) above to recover costs incurred by him in relation to an inquiry as it applies where a Minister is so authorised by virtue of an enactment specified in subsection (1) of that section.

215 Procedure at local inquiries

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the [1972 c. 70.] Local Government Act 1972 (which contain supplementary provisions with respect to local inquiries held in pursuance of that section) shall apply to local inquiries under any provision of this Act, other than a provision in relation to which section 214 above has effect, as they apply to inquiries under that section of that Act of 1972.

(2) Subsection (4) of section 250 of that Act of 1972 shall apply in accordance with subsection (1) above in relation to such local inquiries under this Act as are held with respect to any matter affecting the carrying out of any function of the Authority as if the reference to a local authority in that subsection included a reference to the Authority.