Part I Preliminary

1 Short title, construction and commencement.

(1)

This Act may be cited as the Public Health Act 1925.

(2)

Parts F1I, II, VI and VIII of this Act and the Public Health Acts 1875 to 1907, may be cited together as the Public Health Acts 1875 to 1925 . . . F2

(3)

Parts F1I, II, VI and VIII of this Act shall be construed as one with the Public Health Acts 1875 to 1907 . . . F2

(4)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3

(5)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F4

2 Extent of Act.

(1)

This Act shall not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland, . . . F5

(2)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F6

(3)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F7

(4)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F8Part IX. of this Act shall extend to England and Wales inclusive of the administrative county of London.

3—5.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F9

6 Amendment or adaptation of local Acts, &c.

F10The Secretary of State may, by order made on the application of any local authority, make such amendments or adaptations of any local Act as may appear to him to be necessary for the purpose of bringing the provisions of that Act into conformity with the provisions of this Act, F11. . ..

7 Application of certain provisions of Part I. of 7 Edw. VII. c. 53, and interpretation.

F12(1)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2)

In this Act the expression “local Act” includes an Act for the confirmation of a provisional order and the order thereby confirmed.

(3)

In this Act the expression “statutory undertakers” means any person authorised by Parliament to construct, work, or carry on any railway, canal, inland navigation, dock, harbour, tramway, . . . F13 . . . F14, . . . F15 or other public undertaking.

8 Appeals to petty sessional court.

Where any enactment in this Act provides for an appeal to a petty sessional court against a notice, determination, requirement, order or intended order of a local authority under this Act—

(1)

Notice in writing of the appeal and of the grounds thereof shall be given by the appellant to the F16proper officer of the authority

(2)

The court may make such order in the matter as they consider reasonable, and may award costs to be recoverable as a civil debt;

(3)

No proceeding shall be taken by the local authority, or work executed, until after the determination or abandonment of the appeal;

(4)

Notice of the right of appeal shall be endorsed on the order of the local authority and on any notice communicating their determination, requirement or intended order.

9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F17

F1810 Crown rights.

Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of section twelve of the M1Public Health Acts Amendment Act 1907, nothing in this Act shall affect . . . F19 any F20F18electronic communications apparatus kept installed for the purposes of an electronic communications code network or the execution for those purposes of any works. . ..

11, 12.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F21

Part II Streets and Buildings

Street Bins, Drinking Fountains, Fire Alarms, &c.

13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F22

14 Public drinking fountains, seats, &c. in streets.

The local authority and any person with their consent and subject to such conditions as they may impose may, in proper and convenient situations in any street or public place, erect and maintain seats and drinking fountains for the use of the public and troughs for watering horses or cattle.

15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F23

16 Main roads and premises of statutory undertakers.

(1)

The powers conferred on the local authority by the foregoing sections of this Part of this Act shall not be exercised . . . F24 so as to obstruct or render less convenient the access to or exit from any station or goods yard belonging to a railway company, or any premises belonging to other statutory undertakers and used for the purposes of their undertaking . . . F25

(2)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F26

Naming of Streets

17 Notice to urban authority before street is named.

(1)

Before any street is given a name, notice of the proposed name shall be sent to the urban authority by the person proposing to name the street.

(2)

The urban authority, within one month after the receipt of such notice, may, by notice in writing served on the person by whom notice of the proposed name of the street was sent, object to the proposed name.

(3)

It shall not be lawful to set up in any street an inscription of the name thereof—

(a)

until the expiration of one month after notice of the proposed name has been sent to the urban authority under this section; and

(b)

where the urban authority have objected to the proposed name, unless and until such objection has been withdrawn by the urban authority or overruled on appeal;

and any person acting in contravention of this provision shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding F27level 1 on the standard scale and to a daily penalty not exceeding F28£1.

(4)

Where the urban authority serve a notice of objection under this section, the person proposing to name the street may, within twenty-one days after the service of the notice, appeal against the objection to a petty sessional court.

18 Alteration of name of street.

(1)

The urban authority by order may alter the name of any street, or part of a street, or may assign a name to any street, or part of a street, to which a name has not been given.

(2)

Not less than one month before making an order under this section, the urban authority shall cause notice of the intended order to be posted at each end of the street, or part of the street, or in some conspicuous position in the street or part affected.

(3)

Every such notice shall contain a statement that the intended order may be made by the urban authority on or at any time after the day named in the notice, and that an appeal will lie under this Act to a petty sessional court against the intended order at the instance of any person aggrieved.

(4)

Any person aggrieved by the intended order of the local authority may, within twenty-one days after the posting of the notice, appeal to a petty sessional court.

F29(4A)

In its application in relation to a street, or part of a street, in England, this section applies as if, in subsection (1), the words “may alter the name of any street, or part of a street, or” were omitted.

See section 81 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 for provision about altering street names in England.

F30(5)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19 Indication of name of street.

(1)

The urban authority shall cause the name of every street to be painted, or otherwise marked, in a conspicuous position on any house, building or erection in or near the street, and shall from time to time alter or renew such inscription of the name of any street, if and when the name of the street is altered or the inscription becomes illegible.

(2)

If any person . . . F31, pulls down . . . F31 any inscription of the name of a street which has lawfully been set up, or sets up in any street any name different from the name lawfully given to the street, or places or affixes any notice or advertisement within twelve inches of any name of a street marked on a house, building, or erection in pursuance of this section, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding F32level 1 on the standard scale and to a daily penalty not exceeding F33£1.

(3)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F34

20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F35

21, 22.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F36

Obstructions, &c. to Persons using Streets

23—25.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F37

26 Byelaws as to wires, &c. connected with wireless installations.

(1)

The local authority may make byelaws for the prevention of danger or obstruction to persons using any street or public place from posts, wires, tubes, aerials or any other apparatus, in connection with or for the purposes of wireless telegraphy or telephony installations, stretched or placed, whether before or after the commencement of this section, on or over any premises and liable to fall on to any street or public place.

In this section the expression “public place” includes any public park or garden, and any ground to which the public have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise.

(2)

Nothing in any byelaws made under this section shall extend to any apparatus belonging to any statutory undertakers.

27—35.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F38

Parts III-V

36—55.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F39

Part VI Recreation Grounds

56 Further powers as to parks and pleasure grounds.

(1)—(4)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F40

(5)

When any part of the park or ground has been set apart by the local authority for the purpose of cricket, football or any other game or recreation, under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of the principal section, the local authority may charge reasonable sums for the use thereof for that purpose.

(6)

Part VI. of the M2Public Health Acts Amendment Act 1907, shall have effect as if the powers given to local authorities by this section were included amongst the powers given to local authorities by the principal section.

Part VII

57—65.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F41

Part VIII Miscellaneous

66, 67.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F42

68. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F43

69. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F44

70. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F45

71, 72.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F46

73. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F47

74 Penalties for neglect of traffic directions and for dangerous driving, &c.

(1)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F48

(2), (3)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F49

75 Byelaws as to persons waiting to enter public vehicles.

(1)

The local authority may make byelaws for regulating the conduct of persons waiting in streets to enter public vehicles, and the priority of entry into such vehicles, and may by such byelaws require queues or lines to be formed and kept by such persons.

(2)

The local authority may erect and maintain, or permit other persons to erect and maintain, in any street such barriers and posts as appear to the local authority to be necessary for the purposes of securing compliance with any such byelaws:

. . . F50

(3)

Nothing in subsection (2) of this section shall be construed as empowering the local authority to hinder the reasonable use of the street by the public, or to obstruct the access to or exit from any station or goods yard belonging to a railway company or to or from any premises belonging to the owners, trustees, or conservators, acting under powers conferred by Parliament, of any canal, inland navigation, dock or harbour, and used for the purposes of the canal, inland navigation, dock or harbour, nor shall any barrier or post be erected on any bridge carrying any street over a railway or the approaches thereto.

(4)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F51

76 As to public vehicles taken at railway stations.

In any area within which the provisions of the M3Town Police Clauses Act 1847, with respect to hackney carriages are in force, those provisions and any byelaws of the local authority with respect to hackney carriages shall be as fully applicable in all respects to hackney carriages standing or plying for hire at any railway station or railway premises within such area, as if such railway station or railway premises were a stand for hackney carriages or a street:

Provided that—

(a)

the provisions of this section shall not apply to any vehicle belonging to or used by any railway company for the purpose of carrying passengers and their luggage to or from any of their railway stations or railway premises, or to the driver or conductor of such vehicle;

(b)

Nothing in this section shall empower the local authority to fix the site of the stand or starting place of any hackney carriage in any railway station or railway premises, or in any yard belonging to a railway company, except with the consent of that company.

77. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F52

78. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F53

79. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F54

80. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F55

81—84.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F56

Part IX

85—87.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F57