Inspectors and chief inspector
F14 Inspectors and chief inspector appointed by Secretary of State.
(1)
The Secretary of State may appoint as inspectors, to assist him in the execution of this Act, such number of persons appearing to him to be qualified for the purpose as he may from time to time consider necessary or expedient.
(2)
For the purposes of this Act the Secretary of State shall—
(a)
appoint one of those inspectors to be chief inspector for England and Wales, and
(b)
appoint one of them to be chief inspector for Scotland.
(3)
A person may be appointed both as an inspector or as chief inspector under this section and as an inspector or as chief inspector under section 16 of the M1Environmental Protection Act 1990.
(4)
The chief inspector may, to any extent, delegate his functions under this Act to any other inspector appointed under this section.
(5)
The Secretary of State may make to or in respect of any person appointed by him under this section such payments, by way of remuneration, allowances or otherwise, as he may, with the approval of the Treasury, determine.
(6)
In England and Wales, an inspector appointed under this section, if authorised to do so by the chief inspector, may, although not of counsel or a solicitor, prosecute before a magistrates’ court proceedings for an offence under this Act.
(7)
In the application of this section to Northern Ireland—
(a)
references to the Secretary of State shall have effect as references to the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland,
(b)
the reference in subsection (5) to the Treasury shall have effect as a reference to the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland,
(c)
the reference in subsection (3) to section 16 of the M2Environmental Protection Act 1990 shall have effect as a reference to section 10 of the M3Alkali, &c. Works Regulation Act 1906,
(d)
subsections (2) and (6) shall not apply;
and the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland shall appoint one of the inspectors appointed by it under subsection (1) to be the chief inspector for Northern Ireland.