Office of Public Sector Information
Section 105(1)
1 (1) Amend section 5 (provisions as to musk rats found at large) as follows.
(2) In subsection (3) for “any persons employed by, or on behalf of, the department for that purpose” substitute “any authorised persons”.
(3) After subsection (3) insert—
“(3A) “Authorised person” means—
(a) in relation to England and Wales, a person authorised in writing by the appropriate department to exercise powers under subsection (3);
(b) in relation to Scotland, a person employed by or on behalf of the appropriate department for the purposes of subsection (3).”
2 Omit section 32 (advisory committees).
3 In section 34 (power to enter on and inspect land), after subsection (2) insert—
“(3) This section applies in relation to land in England as if, for the purposes of an agreement under Chapter 1 of Part 8 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (agreements with designated bodies), references to an officer of the appropriate Minister authorised by general or special directions given by him were references to a person authorised by the appropriate Minister by general or special directions given by him.”
4 In section 5 (restriction on disclosure of information), after subsection (3) insert—
“(3A) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to disclosure—
(a) by a development council established in relation to an industry whose activities include an agricultural activity;
(b) to, or to an officer of, Natural England;
(c) to, or to an officer of, the Commission for Rural Communities;
(d) to, or to an officer of, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee;
(e) to, or to an officer of, a body specified in Schedule 7 to the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006;
(f) to, or to an officer of, a board established under Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the 2006Act.”
5 (1) Amend section 9 (levies for certain purposes for industries for which there is no development council) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), for “not a development council” substitute “neither a development council nor a relevant board”.
(3) After subsection (1) insert—
“(1A) “Relevant board” means a board established under Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.”
6 For the title of Part 1, substitute “The Countryside Council for Wales”.
7 (1) Amend section 1 (the Countryside Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), omit—
(a) “There shall be a Countryside Agency which shall exercise functions in relation to England for the purposes specified in subsection (2) below; and”, and
(b) “corresponding” (in both places).
(3) Omit subsection (2).
(4) In the heading, omit “Countryside Agency and the”.
8 (1) Amend section 3 (power of Minister to give directions to Agency or Council) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1)—
(a) for “the Agency or to the Council”, and
(b) for “the Agency or Council”,
substitute “the Council”.
(3) In the heading, for “Commission” substitute “the Council”.
9 In section 4A (application of Part 2 in Wales), in subsection (2), for “the Countryside Agency” substitute “Natural England”.
10 In each of the following provisions for “the Agency” substitute “Natural England”—
(a) section 5(2) and (3);
(b) section 6(1), (3), (4) and (5);
(c) section 7(1), (2), (4) and (6);
(d) section 9(1);
(e) section 51(1), (2), (3) and (4);
(f) section 52(1) and (2);
(g) section 55(1) and (2);
(h) section 65(5) and (5A);
(i) section 85;
(j) section 86(1) and (2);
(k) section 86A;
(l) section 90(4);
(m) section 91(1).
11 (1) Amend section 6 (general duties of Agency in relation to National Parks) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), omit “as soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, and thereafter”.
(3) In subsection (4), omit paragraphs (a) and (c).
(4) In the heading, for “Commission” substitute “Natural England”.
12 For section 15 (meaning of “nature reserve”) substitute—
(1) In this Part, “nature reserve” means—
(a) land managed solely for a conservation purpose, or
(b) land managed not only for a conservation purpose but also for a recreational purpose, if the management of the land for the recreational purpose does not compromise its management for the conservation purpose.
(2) Land is managed for a conservation purpose if it is managed for the purpose of—
(a) providing, under suitable conditions and control, special opportunities for the study of, and research into, matters relating to the fauna and flora of Great Britain and the physical conditions in which they live, and for the study of geological and physiographical features of special interest in the area, or
(b) preserving flora, fauna or geological or physiographical features of special interest in the area,
or for both those purposes.
(3) Land is managed for a recreational purpose if it is managed for the purpose of providing opportunities for the enjoyment of nature or for open-air recreation.”
13 (1) Amend section 15A (meaning of “Nature Conservancy Council”) as follows.
(2) Number the provisions of section 15A as subsection (1).
(3) In subsection (1)—
(a) for “references to “the Nature Conservancy Council” are references” substitute “references to the appropriate conservation body are references”, and
(b) in paragraph (a), for “English Nature” substitute “Natural England”.
(4) After subsection (1) insert—
“(2) In this Part of this Act—
(a) “nature reserve agreement” means an agreement under section 7 of the 2006 Act for securing that land which it appears expedient in the national interest should be managed as a nature reserve shall be so managed, and
(b) “the 2006 Act” means the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.”
(5) In the heading for ““Nature Conservancy Council”” substitute “appropriate conservation body”.
14 (1) Amend section 16 (agreements for management of nature reserves) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), for “the Nature Conservancy Council”—
(a) in the first place where it occurs, substitute “The Council or Scottish Natural Heritage”, and
(b) in the second place where it occurs, substitute “the Council or (as the case may be) Scottish Natural Heritage”.
(3) In subsection (3)(b) and (c), for “the Nature Conservancy Council” substitute “the Council or (as the case may be) Scottish Natural Heritage”.
(4) In subsection (4), for “the Nature Conservancy Council”, substitute “the Council”.
(5) For the heading substitute “Agreements for management of nature reserves in Scotland and Wales”.
15 In each of the following provisions for “the Nature Conservancy Council” substitute “the appropriate conservation body”—
(a) section 17(1) and (2);
(b) section 18(1) and (2);
(c) section 19(1), (2), (3), (4) and (5);
(d) section 20(1), (2)(c) and (3);
(e) section 21(1) and (6);
(f) section 22;
(g) section 103(1);
(h) section 106(1).
16 In section 17 (compulsory acquisition of land for establishment of nature reserves)—
(a) in subsection (2), for “agreement under the last foregoing section” substitute “nature reserve agreement or an agreement under section 16”, and
(b) in the heading, for “Conservancy” substitute “conservation body”.
17 In section 18 (compulsory acquisition of land for maintenance of nature reserves)—
(a) in subsection (1), for “an agreement under the last but one foregoing section” substitute “a nature reserve agreement or an agreement under section 16”, and
(b) in the heading, for “Conservancy” substitute “conservation body”.
18 In section 19 (declarations as to what are nature reserves), in subsection (1), for “an agreement entered into with them under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act” substitute “a nature reserve agreement or an agreement under section 16”.
19 In section 21 (establishment of nature reserves by local authorities), in subsection (4), for “the Nature Conservancy Council” substitute “the appropriate conservation body, the Council or Scottish Natural Heritage”.
20 In section 50A (application of Part 4 in Wales), in subsection (2), for “the Countryside Agency” substitute “Natural England”.
21 In section 64 (access agreements), omit subsection (5).
22 In the heading to section 85 (general duty of Commission to advise on questions relating to natural beauty), for “Commission” substitute “Natural England and the Council”.
23 In the heading to section 86 (information services to be provided by Commission), for “Commission” substitute “Natural England”.
24 In section 114 (interpretation), in subsection (1), omit the definition of “the Agency”.
25 In Schedule 1 (provisions as to making, confirmation, coming into operation and validity of certain instruments), in paragraph 2(5)—
(a) for “the Agency,” in the first place where it occurs, substitute “Natural England,”, and
(b) for “the Agency,” in the second place where it occurs, substitute “Natural England, the”.
26 In—
(a) section 1 (power to authorise execution of manoeuvres), in subsection (3)(a)(iii), and
(b) section 4 (manoeuvres commissions), in subsection (1)(d),
for “the Countryside Agency” substitute “Natural England”.
27 In section 19 (consumers' committees and committees' of investigation), omit subsections (1) to (5) and (9).
28 (1) Amend section 20 (directions by Ministers to boards as respects certain matters) as follows.
(2) In subsection (3), omit the words from “, and if, within” to the end.
(3) Omit subsections (4) and (7).
29 (1) Amend section 21 (temporary directions by Ministers) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), omit—
(a) paragraph (b) and “or” preceding it,
(b) “or, as the case may be, of the report or complaint”, and
(c) “or direction”.
(3) In subsection (2), omit the proviso.
(4) Omit subsection (3).
(5) In subsection (4), for “periods prescribed by subsections (2) and (3)” substitute “period prescribed by subsection (2)”.
30 (1) Amend section 32 (general provisions as to commissions and committees) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), omit—
(a) “or committee” (in both places), and
(b) “or appointed”.
(3) In subsections (2) and (3), omit “or committee” (in each place).
(4) Omit subsection (4).
31 In section 47 (restrictions on disclosing certain information obtained under Act), in subsection (2), omit “, consumers' committee, committee of investigation”.
32 In section 53 (provisions as to Northern Ireland), in subsection (5)—
(a) omit “consumers' committee and committees of investigation shall operate, and the”,
(b) for “operate and are applicable respectively” substitute “are applicable”, and
(c) omit the words from “, but when any such committee” to the end of the subsection.
33 In Schedule 3 (matters referred to in the definition of “the Minister”), in Parts 2, 5 and 6, omit paragraphs 2 and 3.
34 (1) In Schedule 1 (definition of public records), amend Part 2 of the table at the end of paragraph 3 as follows.
(2) Insert at the appropriate places—
“Commission for Rural Communities.”, and
“Natural England.”.
(3) Omit the entries relating to English Nature and the Countryside Agency.
35 In section 6 (further non-trading functions of Authority), in subsection (2), omit “(subject to section 17(2) of this Act)”.
36 In section 17 (offences in relation to scheme under section 16), omit—
(a) subsection (2), and
(b) in subsection (3), paragraph (c) and “or” preceding it.
37 In section 39 (meaning of “public office” etc.), in subsection (1), in paragraph 7, omit the entry relating to English Nature.
38 In section 5A (byelaws under section 5 for marine environmental purposes), in subsection (3)(a), for “English Nature” substitute “Natural England”.
39 (1) Amend Schedule 2 (departments and authorities subject to investigation) as follows.
(2) Insert at the appropriate places—
“Commission for Rural Communities.”, and
“Natural England.”
(3) Omit the entries relating to the Countryside Agency and English Nature.
40 Omit section 24 (disclosure of information).
41 In the heading preceding section 1, for “Agency” substitute “Council for Wales”.
42 For section 1 (general functions of the Countryside Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales) substitute—
(1) The purposes for which the Countryside Council for Wales is to exercise the functions conferred on them by this Act are those specified in section 130(2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
(2) The Council may—
(a) make such charges for any of their services as they think fit,
(b) accept any gift or contribution made to them for the purposes of any of their functions, and, subject to the terms of the gift or contribution and to the provisions of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (in this Act referred to as “the Act of 1949”) and this Act, to apply it for those purposes, and
(c) do all such things as are incidental to, or conducive to the attainment of the purposes of, any of their functions.”
43 (1) Amend section 2 (new functions of the Agency) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1)—
(a) for “Agency and the Council shall each” substitute “Council shall”, and
(b) for “Agency or Council” (in both places) substitute “Council”.
(3) In subsections (2) to (4)—
(a) for “Agency and the Council” (in each place) substitute “Council”, and
(b) for “Agency or Council” (in each place) substitute “Council”.
(4) In subsection (5)—
(a) for “Agency or to the Council” substitute “Council”,
(b) for “Agency or, as the case may be, the Council” substitute “Council”, and
(c) in paragraph (b)—
(i) for “Agency or Council” (in each place) substitute “Council”, and
(ii) for “provisions of section 1(2)” substitute “purposes mentioned in section 1(1)”.
(5) In subsections (6) to (8)—
(a) for “Agency and the Council” (in each place) substitute “Council”, and
(b) for “Agency or Council” (in each place) substitute “Council”.
(6) In subsection (9)—
(a) omit “Agency and the” and “Agency or”, and
(b) for “Exchequer grants under the Act of 1949” substitute “grants under section 16 of the Welsh Development Agency Act 1975”.
(7) In the heading, for “Agency” substitute “Council”.
44 (1) Amend section 4 (experimental projects or schemes) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1)—
(a) for “Agency and the Council” substitute “Council”, and
(b) for “Agency or Council” substitute “Council”.
(3) In subsection (3) for “Agency or, as the case may be, the Council” substitute “Council”.
(4) In subsections (4) to (6) for “Agency or Council” (in each place) substitute “Council”.
(5) In subsection (5) for “Agency or by the Council” substitute “Council”.
(6) In subsection (6) for “Agency or of the Council” substitute “Council”.
45 In section 8 (country park: sailing, boating, bathing and fishing), in subsection (5), for “the Agency” substitute “Natural England”.
46 (1) Amend section 12 (facilities in or near National Parks) as follows.
(2) In subsection (1)—
(a) in the first sentence, omit “, at the request of, and in accordance with terms laid down by, the Agency or, as the case may be, the Council,”, and
(b) omit the second sentence.
(3) In subsection (5), in the first sentence, for “the Agency” substitute “Natural England”.
47 In section 13 (lakes in national parks: control of boats etc.), in subsection (4)—
(a) for “sections 1 and” substitute “section”, and
(b) for “the Agency” substitute “Natural England”.
48 (1) Amend section 15 (agreements in respect of areas of special scientific interest) as follows.
(2) In —
(a) subsection (1), for “the Nature Conservancy Council (in this section referred to as “the Council”)” substitute “the Council or Scottish Natural Heritage”, and
(b) in subsections (2) and (3), after “the Council” insert “or (as the case may be) Scottish Natural Heritage”.
(3) In subsection (6), in the substituted subsection (4), for “the Council” substitute “Scottish Natural Heritage”.
(4) Omit subsection (6A).
49 (1) Amend section 15A (compulsory purchase) as follows.
(2) For subsection (1) substitute—
“(1) Natural England or the Council may, in the circumstances set out in subsection (2), acquire compulsorily all or part of the land which it appears to that body expedient to acquire for the purpose of conserving flora, fauna, or geological or physiographical features of special interest.”
(3) In subsection (2)—
(a) in paragraph (a)—
(i) for “the Nature Conservancy Council” substitute “Natural England or (as the case may be) the Council”, and
(ii) for “such an agreement as is referred to in section 15(2)” substitute “an SSSI agreement”, and
(b) in paragraph (b), for “such an agreement” substitute “an SSSI agreement”.
(4) In subsection (4), for “the Nature Conservancy Council” substitute “Natural England or the Council”.
(5) Omit subsection (5).
(6) After subsection (4) insert—
“(6) In this section “SSSI agreement” means—
(a) in relation to Natural England, an agreement under section 7 of the 2006 Act imposing, for the purpose of conserving flora, fauna, or geological or physiographical features of special interest, restrictions on the exercise of rights over land by persons having an interest in the land, or
(b) in relation to the Council, such an agreement as is referred to in section 15(2).”
50 In section 23 (provision of facilities by Forestry Commissioners), in subsection (5) omit “Countryside Agency and the” and “each”.
51 In section 37 (protection for interests in countryside) for “the Agency, the Council, English Nature” substitute “Natural England, the Council”.
52 In section 38 (avoidance of pollution), for “the Agency” substitute “Natural England”.
53 (1) Amend section 41 (power to make byelaws and related provisions about wardens) as follows.
(2) For subsection (2) substitute—
“(2) Natural England and the Council may make byelaws for the preservation of order and other purposes mentioned in subsection (1)—
(a) in the case of Natural England, as respects land—
(i) to which the public have rights of access under a management agreement under section 7 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, or
(ii) held by them for the purposes of an experimental scheme under section 8 of that Act, and
(b) in the case of the Council, as respects land—
(i) held by them for the purposes of section 4, or
(ii) to which the public have access under an agreement under section 4(5)(b).”
(3) In subsections (5), (8) and (9), for “the Agency” substitute “Natural England”.
54 In section 45 (agreements with landowners), in subsection (1), omit “the Agency,”.
55 (1) Amend section 46 (application of general provisions of 1949 Act) as follows.
(2) In subsection (2), for “references to the Nature Conservancy Council shall include references to the Agency and any reference to the Nature Conservancy Council,” substitute “the reference to the appropriate conservation body”.
(3) In subsection (4), omit “experimental projects or schemes,”.
56 In section 49 (interpretation), in subsection (2), omit the definition of “the Agency”.
57 (1) Amend section 10 (power to grant licences) as follows.
(2) In subsection (3), in paragraph (b), for “the Nature Conservancy Council” substitute “the appropriate nature conservation body”.
(3) In subsection (5) for “a reference to “the Nature Conservancy Council” is a reference to English Nature,”, substitute ““the appropriate nature conservation body” means Natural England,”.
58 (1) Amend Schedule 1 (kinds of employment to which that Act applies) as follows.
(2) Insert at the appropriate places—
“Commission for Rural Communities.”, and
“Natural England.”
(3) Omit the entries relating to the Countryside Agency and English Nature.
59 For section 9 (grants and loans by the Countryside Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales) substitute—
(1) In accordance with arrangements approved by the National Assembly for Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales may give financial assistance by way of grant or loan, or partly in the one way and partly in the other, to any person in respect of expenditure incurred by him in doing anything which, in the opinion of the Council, is conducive to the attainment of any of the purposes of—
(a) the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949,
(b) the Countryside Act 1968, or
(c) the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
(2) On making a grant or loan under this section the Countryside Council for Wales may impose such conditions as they think fit including (in the case of a grant) conditions for repayment in specified circumstances.
(3) The exercise of the power of the Countryside Council for Wales under this section is subject to any directions given to the Council by the National Assembly for Wales.”
60 (1) Amend Schedule 1 (offices disqualifying for membership) as follows.
(2) In Part 2 (bodies of which all members are disqualified), insert at the appropriate places—
“Commission for Rural Communities.”, and
“Natural England.”
(3) In Part 3 omit the entries relating to the Countryside Agency and English Nature.
Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006