Part IE+W General enforcement provisions
Duty to enforce ActE+W
1E+WIt shall be the duty of every local authority to enforce within their area the provisions of Schedules 1 and 3 to this Act and Part II of this Schedule.
InspectorsE+W
2E+WFor the purposes of their duties under paragraph 1 above it shall be the duty of every local authority to appoint inspectors.
Powers of entryE+W
3E+W. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Obstruction of inspectorsE+W
4E+W. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Investigatory powersE+W
4AE+WFor the investigatory powers available to a local authority and the inspectors appointed by it under paragraph 2 for the purposes of the duty in paragraph 1, see Schedule 5 to the Consumer Rights Act 2015.]
Offences due to fault of other personE+W
5E+WWhere the commission by any person of an offence under this Act is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person shall be guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this paragraph whether or not proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned person.
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
Offences by bodies corporateE+W
6(1)Where an offence under this Act 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, any 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 the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.E+W
(2)Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, sub-paragraph (1) above shall apply 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.
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
Defence of due diligenceE+W
7(1)In any proceedings for an offence under this Act it shall, subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, be a defence for the person charged to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence by himself or by a person under his control.E+W
(2)If in any case the defence provided by sub-paragraph (1) above involves the allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default of another person, the person charged shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on that defence unless, at least seven clear days before the hearing, he has served on the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person as was then in his possession.
Modifications etc. (not altering text)