Office of Public Sector Information
SCHEDULE 5 continued PART I continued
(3) After subsection (6) there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(6A) The last preceding subsection does not apply in respect of premises in respect of which—
(a) a person has been (but is no longer) registered under section one of this Act;
or
(b) an authorisation has been (but is no longer) in force under subsection (1) of section six or under section seven of this Act; or
in respect of premises on which there are reasonable grounds for believing that mobile radioactive apparatus has been or is being kept or used.”;
and at the beginning of subsection (6) there shall be inserted the words “Subject to the next following subsection”.
(4) After subsection (7) there shall be inserted the following subsections—
“(7A) An inspector appointed under section 11A of this Act or under subsection (7)(a) of this section shall not be liable in any civil or criminal proceedings for anything done in the purported exercise of his powers under this section if the court is satisfied that the act was done in good faith and that there were reasonable grounds for doing it.
(7B) In England and Wales, an inspector appointed under section 11A of this Act, 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 section 13 of this Act.”
14 (1) Section 13 of the 1960 Act (offences) shall be amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (1) after paragraph (c) there shall be inserted the following paragraph “, or
(d) being a person who is registered under section one or section three of this Act or to whom an authorisation under section six or section seven of this Act has been granted, fails to comply with any requirement of a notice served on him under section 11B or 11C of this Act”.
(3) In subsection (2) (penalties for offence under subsection (1)) in paragraph (a), for the words after “summary conviction” there shall be substituted the words “to a fine not exceeding £20,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both”.
(4) In subsection (4) (penalties for offence under subsection (3)) in paragraph (a), for the words from “exceeding” where it first appears to “or to”, there shall be substituted the words “exceeding the statutory maximum, or to”.
(5) After subsection (4), there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(4A) Any person who fails to comply with a requirement imposed on him under section 8A of this Act shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.”.
(6) In subsection (5)(b) (offence of obstructing inspector)—
(a) at the beginning there shall be inserted the word “intentionally”;
(b) for the words “the last preceding section” there shall be substituted the words “section twelve of this Act”; and
(c) after the word “provide” there shall be inserted the words “facilities or assistance or”.
(7) In subsection (5), in the words after paragraph (b), for the words after “offence” there shall be substituted the words “and shall be liable—
(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;
(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.”
(8) In subsection (6) (pulling down, defacing etc, documents), for the words after “exceeding” there shall be substituted the words “level 2 on the standard scale.”.
(9) In subsection (7) (which restricts the persons who may authorise prosecutions in England and Wales), for the word “Minister” there shall be substituted the words “Secretary of State, the chief inspector”.
(10) After subsection (8) there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(9) Where the commission by any person of an offence under this section is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this subsection whether or not proceedings for the offence are taken against the first-mentioned person.”
15 After section 13 (offences) of the 1960 Act there shall be inserted the following section—
(1) The chief inspector shall keep copies of—
(a) all applications made to him under any provision of this Act;
(b) all documents issued by him under any provision of this Act;
(c) all other documents sent by him to any local authority in pursuance of directions of the Secretary of State; and
(d) such records of convictions under section thirteen of this Act as may be prescribed in regulations;
and he shall make copies of those documents available to the public except to the extent that that would involve the disclosure of information relating to any relevant process or trade secret (within the meaning of subsection (3) of section thirteen of this Act) or would involve the disclosure of applications or certificates as respects which the Secretary of State has directed that knowledge should be restricted on grounds of national security.
(2) Each local authority shall keep and make available to the public copies of all documents sent to the authority under any provision of this Act unless directed by the chief inspector or, as the case may be, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the chief inspector, that all or any part of any such document is not to be available for inspection.
(3) Directions under the preceding subsection shall only be given for the purpose of preventing disclosure of relevant processes or trade secrets (within the meaning of subsection (3) of section thirteen of this Act) and may be given generally in respect of all, or any description of, documents or in respect of specific documents.
(4) The copies of documents required to be made available to the public by this section need not be kept in documentary form.
(5) The public shall have the right to inspect the copies of documents required to be made available under this section at all reasonable times and, on payment of a reasonable fee, to be provided with a copy of any such document.”
16 In section 16 of the 1960 Act (expenses and receipts)—
(a) in subsection (1)(a), for the words following “incurred by” there shall be substituted the words “the Secretary of State or the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under this Act”; and
(b) in subsection (2), for the word “Minister” there shall be substituted the words “Secretary of State or the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food”.
17 In section 18 of the 1960 Act (meaning of expression “radioactive material” in that Act) after subsection (3) there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(3A) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section, a substance shall not be treated as radioactive material if the level of radioactivity is less than such level as may be prescribed for substances of that description.”
18 In section 20 of the 1960 Act (application of Act to Scotland)—
(a) for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—
“(a) for any reference to the chief inspector there shall be substituted a reference to the chief inspector for Scotland, being the inspector so appointed by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Act in relation to Scotland;
(b) any reference to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food shall be omitted and anything required to be done in England by both the chief inspector and that Minister shall be done in Scotland by the chief inspector for Scotland.”;
(b) after paragraph (e) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—
“(f) in section 11, subsections (1) and (4) shall be omitted.”
19 (1) In Schedule 1 to the 1960 Act (enactments, other than local enactments, to which section 9(1) applies)—
(a) paragraphs 9 and 11 shall be omitted;
(b) after paragraph 17 there shall be added the following paragraphs—
“17A Section 201 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
17B Section 124 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.”
20 In section 21 of the 1960 Act (application of Act to Northern Ireland)—
(a) in subsection (2)—
(i) for paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—
“(a) except in section sixteen of this Act any reference to the Secretary of State shall be construed as a reference to the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, any reference to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food shall be construed as a reference to the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland and any reference to the Treasury shall be construed as a reference to the Department of Finance and Personnel for Northern Ireland;”;
(ii) at the end there shall be added the following paragraphs—
“(k) in section 11A(3) of this Act the reference to section 16 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 shall be construed as a reference to section 10 of the Alkali & Works Regulation Act 1906;
(l) section 12(7B) of this Act shall be omitted;
(m) for section 12B(3) of this Act there shall be substituted—
“(3) Schedule 8 to the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 (provisions as to inquiries) shall apply to inquiries in pursuance of subsection (2) above.”;
(n) in section 15A of this Act the reference to each House of Parliament shall be construed as a reference to the Northern Ireland Assembly;
(o) any reference to the Crown shall be construed as including a reference to the Crown in right of Her Majesty’s Government in Northern Ireland”; and
(b) subsection (4) shall be omitted.
Environmental Protection Act 1990