Air-Raid Precautions Act 1937
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1937 c. 6 |
| Year | 1937 |
Air-Raid Precautions Act, 1937
(1 & 2 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 6.
An Act to secure that precautions shall be taken with a view to the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of hostile attack from the air.
[22nd December 1937]
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:—
Functions of Local Authorities.
1 Duty of certain local authorities to prepare and submit air-raid precaution schemes.
(1) It shall be the duty of the local authorities hereafter in this section respectively mentioned to submit to the Secretary of State schemes (hereinafter referred to as ‘air-raid precaution schemes’) making provision as to the arrangements to be made in their several areas for the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of hostile attack from the air, and as to the authorities and persons by whom such arrangements are to be carried out.
(2) Air-raid precaution schemes as to the arrangements, other than fire precaution arrangements, to be made for minimising the injury and damage to persons and property likely to result from air raids, (hereinafter referred to as ‘air-raid general precautions schemes’) shall be prepared and submitted to the Secretary of State by the councils of counties and county boroughs:
Provided that—
(a ) any scheme to be so submitted by a county council shall be prepared after consultation with the councils of those county districts within the county that will be affected by the scheme, and it shall be the duty of every such council to assist the county council in the preparation of the scheme and, at the request of the county council, to furnish such information and submit suggestions on such matters as may be specified in the request; and
(b ) on the application of the council of any borough or urban district within a county, the Secretary of State may, after consultation with the county council, direct that a scheme for the borough or urban district shall, subject to any conditions which may be imposed by him, be prepared and submitted by the council of the borough or urban district instead of by the county council.
(3) Air-raid precaution schemes as to the arrangements to be made for the extinction of fires likely to result from air-raids (hereinafter referred to as ‘air-raid fire precautions schemes’) shall be prepared and submitted to the Secretary of State by the councils of boroughs (including county boroughs) and by the councils of urban districts; and the council of any rural district may, if they think fit, prepare and submit air-raid fire precautions schemes which may contain provisions conferring on the council such functions as to the extinguishing of fires and the protection of life and property in case of fire as may be necessary for giving effect to the schemes.
(4) Subject as hereinafter provided, air-raid precaution schemes shall, in particular, contain provisions as to such matters as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State:
Provided that the Secretary of State may in the case of any council dispense with the preparation and submission of a scheme in respect of any matter specified in such regulations, and thereupon the council shall not be required to submit a scheme with respect to that matter.
(5) Air-raid precaution schemes shall, as soon as practicable after the passing of this Act, be submitted by councils in respect of all the matters in respect of which they are required by the foregoing provisions of this section to submit schemes and for the whole of their areas, and any council by whom schemes are to be submitted may, and shall, if so required by the Secretary of State, prepare and submit separate schemes in respect of any of such matters, and, in the case of a county council, separate schemes in respect of different parts of their area.
(6) An air-raid general precautions scheme or an air-raid fire precautions scheme submitted by any council may, by arrangement with any other council who are required by this section to submit such a scheme, make provision for functions being exercised thereunder by the last-mentioned council as agents for the council submitting the scheme.
(7) An air-raid precaution scheme prepared and submitted by a county council may make provision as to what expenditure, if any, under the scheme is to be dealt with as expenditure for special county purposes.
2 Application of section one to London.
(1) The Secretary of State shall by order provide for allocating between the London County Council, the common council of the city of London, and the councils of metropolitan boroughs, the duty of preparing and submitting air-raid general precautions schemes under subsection (2) of the last foregoing section, and the order shall in particular determine which of the several matters prescribed by the regulations made under this Act are to be provided for in the schemes prepared and submitted by each of those councils respectively; and section one of this Act shall apply to the administrative county of London subject to such consequential modifications as may be specified in the order.
(2) Air-raid fire precautions schemes for the administrative county of London shall be prepared and submitted to the Secretary of State by the London County Council; and subsection (3) of the last foregoing section, except in so far as it defines air-raid precaution schemes, shall not apply to that county.
(3) Section ninety-seven of the Local Government Act, 1933 (which applies the provisions of Part III of that Act relating to joint committees to the London County Council and to councils of metropolitan boroughs), shall, in relation to the functions imposed by this Act, have effect as if any reference in the said section ninety-seven to the council of a metropolitan borough included a reference to the common council of the city of London.
3 Approval, effect and amendment of air-raid precaution schemes.
(1) The Secretary of State may approve, with or without modifications, any air-raid precaution scheme submitted to him under this Act, and any such scheme shall, upon being so approved, come into force on such date as may be provided by the scheme as approved.
(2) It shall be the duty of every local authority to discharge such functions as may be imposed on the authority by this Act or by any scheme in force thereunder.
(3) Any air-raid precaution scheme in force under this Act may be amended by a subsequent scheme submitted and approved in like manner as the original scheme, and any council by whom such a scheme has been submitted shall, if required so to do by the Secretary of State, prepare and submit a scheme for the amendment thereof in accordance with any directions given by him.
4 Duty of local authorities to co-operate and power to act jointly.
(1) It shall be the duty of all local authorities charged with functions under this Act or any scheme in force thereunder to assist each other where possible in making provision for the protection of persons and property from injury or damage in the event of hostile attack from the air, and any two or more such authorities may enter into mutual arrangements for that purpose, but, except with the approval of the Secretary of State, joint committees shall not be appointed for the purposes of this Act under section ninety-one of the Local Government Act, 1933, nor shall functions under this Act or any scheme in force thereunder be delegated under section two hundred and seventy-four of that Act, except with the like approval.
(2) The Secretary of State may after consultation with the councils concerned by order direct that the functions of any two or more councils in preparing and submitting air-raid precaution schemes with respect to any matters specified in the regulations made under this Act to which the order relates, or any functions under any air-raid precaution scheme for the time being in force, being functions of councils having power to appoint joint committees under section ninety-one of the Local Government Act, 1933, shall, as respects any area specified in the order, be exercised by a joint committee so appointed.
5 Compulsory purchase of land.
5. The council of any county or county borough, the common council of the city of London, and the council of any metropolitan borough or county district may purchase land compulsorily for any of the purposes of this Act by means of an order made by the council and confirmed by the Secretary of State, and the provisions of sections one hundred and sixty-one, one hundred and sixty-two, one hundred and seventy-four, and one hundred and seventy-five of the Local Government Act, 1933, and of paragraphs (a ) and (c ) of section one hundred and seventy-nine of that Act shall apply with respect to any such order as if for the references to the Minister of Health there were substituted references to the Secretary of State and for the references to a local authority there were substituted references to any such council as aforesaid.
6 Duty of local authorities to assist arrangements for evacuation of civil population.
6. It shall be the duty of all local authorities charged with functions under this Act to furnish to the Secretary of State such information as may be demanded by him for the purpose of assisting the preparation by His Majesty's Government of plans...
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