Public Health Act 1936
| Year | 1936 |
Public Health Act, 1936
(26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8.) CHAPTER 49.
An Act to consolidate with amendments certain enactments relating to public health.
[31st July 1936]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I.
Local Administration.
Local authorities and their districts.
1 Local authorities for purposes of Act.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to certain special authorities, districts and areas, it shall be the duty of the following authorities to carry this Act into this execution, that is to say—
(i) in a county borough, the council of the borough;
(ii) in an administrative county as respects certain matters, the county council and, as respects all other matters, the councils of county districts, without prejudice, however, to the exercise by a parish council of any powers conferred upon such councils.
(2) In this Act the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:—
‘local authority’ means the council of a borough, urban district or rural district;
‘urban authority’ means the council of a borough or urban district;
‘rural authority’ means the council of a rural district;
‘district,’ in relation to the local authority of a borough, means the borough; and
‘parish,’ in relation to a common parish council acting for two or more grouped parishes, means those parishes:
Provided that, in relation to a rural district with respect to which there is in force such a direction as is mentioned in subsection (2) of section forty-two of the Local Government Act, 1933 , any reference in this Act to a local authority, to a rural authority, or to a rural district council shall be construed as a reference to the council by whom the affairs of the district are being temporarily administered.
Port health authorities and joint boards.
2 Constitution of port health district under port health authority.
(1) In this Part of this Act the expression ‘port’ means a port as established for the purposes of the enactments relating to the Customs and, in relation to any such port or any part of any such port, the expression ‘riparian authority’ means—
(a ) any local authority whose district, or any part of whose district, forms part of, or abuts on, that port or part of a port; and
(b ) any conservators, commissioners or other persons having authority in, over or within that port or part of a port.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Minister may by order—
(i) constitute a port health district consisting of the whole or any part of a port, and either—
(ii) constitute a port health district consisting of any two or more areas, being ports or parts of ports, and constitute a joint board, consisting of representatives of two or more riparian authorities, to be the port health authority for the district.
(3) A joint board so constituted a port health authority shall be a body corporate by such name as may be determined by the order constituting the port health district, and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal and power to hold land for the purposes of their constitution without licence in mortmain.
(4) Where the Minister proposes to make an order under this section, he shall give notice thereof to every riparian authority who will under the order be liable to contribute to the expenses of the port health authority, and if, within twenty-eight days after such notice has been given to any such riparian authority, they give notice to the Minister that they object to the proposal and the objection is not withdrawn, any order made by the Minister which will impose any such liability on that authority shall be provisional only, and shall not have effect until it is confirmed by Parliament.
(5) All expenses of, and incidental to, the constitution of a port health district shall be payable by the port health authority and, so far as those expenses are expenses incurred by the Minister, the amount thereof as certified by him shall be recoverable by him from the authority as a debt due to the Crown.
3 Jurisdiction, powers, &c. of port health authority.
(1) An order constituting a port health district—
(a ) shall confer on the port health authority jurisdiction over all waters within the area to which the order relates, and also over the whole of the district of any such riparian authority as may be specified in the order, or such part of any such district as may be so specified; and
(b ) may assign to the port health authority any of the functions, rights and liabilities of a local authority under any enactment contained in this Act, or any unrepealed enactment contained in the Public Health Acts, 1875 to 1932.
(2) Section two hundred and ninety-three of the Local Government Act, 1933, which enables any of the provisions of that Act to be applied to a joint board of which the constituent members are local authorities, shall apply also in relation to any port health authority, notwithstanding that that authority may be a single local authority, or may be a joint board of which all the constituent members are not local authorities:
Provided that, where the port health authority are the council of a borough, the provisions of the said Act relating to the audit of accounts by district auditors shall not be so applied, unless all the accounts of the council are subject to such audit.
(3) The provisions of sections one hundred and eight to one hundred and ten of the Local Government Act, 1933, as adapted and set out in the First Schedule to this Act, shall have effect with respect to the medical officer of health and sanitary inspector of a port health district.
4 Restriction on discharge of functions by localauthorities within port health district.
(1) A local authority having jurisdiction in any part of a port health district, including the port health district of the port of London, shall cease to discharge in relation thereto any functions which are functions of the port health authority:
Provided that, with the approval of the Minister, the port health authority of any such district may by agreement delegate, with or without restrictions or conditions, any of their functions to a riparian authority whose district lies within, extends into or abuts on, the district of the port health authority.
(2) Where under the preceding subsection any functions of a port health authority are delegated to a riparian authority, the riparian authority in the discharge thereof shall act as agents of the port health authority.
5 Existing port sanitary authorities to be renamed port health authorities.
5. Port sanitary districts and port sanitary authorities constituted under any Act passed before this Act, including the port sanitary district and port sanitary authority of the port of London, shall be known as and styled port health districts and port health authorities, and references in any Act or other document to port sanitary districts or port sanitary authorities shall be construed accordingly.
6 Union of districts, or parts of districts, forcertain purposes under joint board.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, if, on an application made to him by the local authorities of the districts to which the...
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