Slaughterhouses Act 1958
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1958 c. 70 |
| Year | 1958 |
Slaughterhouses Act, 1958
(6 & 7 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 70
An Act to make provision with respect to slaughterhouses and knackers' yards and the slaughter of animals; and for purposes connected therewith.
Be it enacted by the Queen'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:—
Provision of slaughterhouse facilities
1 Licensing of slaughterhouses—general.
(1) Section sixty-four of the principal Act (which provides that except with the consent of the Minister a slaughterhouse licence shall not be granted or renewed in respect of any premises not previously used as a slaughterhouse) is hereby repealed.
(2) Where an application for the grant or renewal of a slaughterhouse licence is made to a local authority in respect of any premises to which, if they were used as a slaughterhouse, both construction regulations made under section thirteen of the principal Act and construction regulations made under section two of the Act of 1954, being in each case regulations made after the passing of this Act, would apply, then—
(a ) subject to subsections (3) and (4) of section sixty-six of the principal Act (which provide for appeals), the authority shall not grant or renew the licence unless they are satisfied that all construction regulations for the time being in force, being regulations made under the said section thirteen or under the said section two, are, or by the date on which the licence or renewed licence comes into force will be, complied with in respect of the premises;
(b ) without prejudice to the foregoing paragraph, the authority shall not refuse the application unless—
(i) they are not satisfied, on the premises being represented by the applicant as ready for use as a slaughterhouse under the licence or renewed licence, that all the requirements of all regulations with respect to slaughterhouses for the time being in force under the said section thirteen, of all construction regulations for the time being in force under the said section two and of all byelaws, if any, made by the authority and for the time being in force under section sixty-eight of the principal Act are, or within a reasonable time will be, complied with in respect of the premises; or
(ii) they are required to refuse the application by section two, four, five or six of this Act; or
(iii) in a case to which subsection (4) of section two of this Act applies, the Minister has consented to the refusal;
and this subsection shall apply in relation to the grant, renewal or refusal of an express authorisation under subsection (3) of section sixty-two of the principal Act for the use of premises for or in connection with the slaughter of horses as it applies to the grant, renewal or refusal of a slaughterhouse licence in respect of those premises; and section sixty-five of the principal Act shall not apply in any case to which this subsection applies.
(3) No resolution under section seventy-six of the principal Act (which confers power on a local authority to restrict by resolution the grant or renewal of slaughterhouse licences where the authority are satisfied that the slaughterhouse facilities available in their district are adequate for the time being) shall be passed by a local authority or approved by the Minister after the passing of this Act, and the Minister shall require a local authority to revoke any resolution for the time being having effect under the said section seventy-six or under section seventy-five of the principal Act (which confers the like power by reason of the provision of slaughterhouse facilities by that or another local authority) if at any time it appears to him—
(a ) in the case of a resolution under the said section seventy-six, that the slaughterhouse facilities available in the authority's district do not for the time being include at least one public slaughterhouse which complies with the following conditions, that is to say, that the providing authority are the occupiers and that facilities for the slaughter of animals at the slaughterhouse, whether by servants of the providing authority or otherwise, are open to all persons requiring them;
(b ) in the case of a resolution under the said section seventy-five, that there is no public slaughterhouse provided by that authority which for the time being complies with the conditions aforesaid or, as the case may be, that the slaughterhouse facilities provided by another authority do not for the time being include at least one public slaughterhouse which complies with those conditions;
and the local authority shall comply with the requirement and, as soon as practicable after the revocation of the resolution, cause notice of the revocation to be published in one or more local newspapers circulating in their district.
(4) Without prejudice to the last foregoing subsection, in the said section seventy-five, for paragraph (b ) of subsection (1) (which authorises the passing of a resolution under that section where the local authority are of opinion that slaughterhouse facilities in their district ought to be abolished or reduced having regard to such facilities provided by another authority) there shall be substituted the following paragraph:—
‘(b ) are of opinion that, having regard to the availability of slaughterhouse facilities provided by another authority, slaughterhouse facilities within their district ought to be abolished or reduced, or ought not to be increased, or are not required’;
and, accordingly, after the word ‘and’, in the first place where it occurs in the said subsection (1), there shall be inserted the words ‘any such resolution may also provide’.
(5) The Minister may by regulations—
(a ) require slaughterhouse licences and applications for the grant or renewal of such licences to be in such form and to contain such particulars of all premises to which the licence or application relates as may be prescribed by the regulations;
(b ) require local authorities to keep such records of all slaughterhouse licences granted by them, including the particulars aforesaid, and to furnish the Minister with such information in connection with the grant of slaughterhouse licences, as may be so prescribed;
and each local authority shall make any such records as aforesaid or copies thereof available during reasonable hours at some convenient place or places in their district for inspection by any person without charge.
2 Licensing of slaughterhouses where local restrictions in force.
(1) Where after the passing of this Act an application for the grant of a new slaughterhouse licence is received by a local authority with respect to whose district there is for the time being in force—
(a ) a resolution having effect under section seventy-five or section seventy-six of the principal Act; or
(b ) a provision of a local Act whereby, notwithstanding the grant of such a licence, the use as a slaughterhouse of the premises to which the application relates would be unlawful,
the three next following subsections shall have effect notwithstanding anything in the resolution or provision in question; and, while any licence granted or renewed in pursuance of those subsections is in force and any terms, conditions or restrictions imposed by or under any local Act are complied with, nothing in any such provision of a local Act as aforesaid shall prevent, or subject any person to any penalty by reason of, the use of those premises as a slaughterhouse or the slaughter of animals on those premises.
(2) Not later than two months after receiving such an application as aforesaid, the local authority shall either—
(a ) serve notice in writing on the applicant that they intend to refuse the application unless before the expiration of the period of twenty-one days commencing with the date of service of the notice he requires the authority in writing to submit the application to the Minister, and that no other appeal will lie against that refusal; or
(b ) if they think fit, themselves submit the application to the Minister;
and where a notice has been served by the authority under paragraph (a ) of this subsection and at the expiration of the period referred to in that paragraph the authority have not been required by the applicant to submit the application to the Minister, the authority shall forthwith refuse the application.
(3) Where in pursuance of the last foregoing subsection a local authority are required or determine to submit an application to the Minister, the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect, and the Minister—
(a ) if he is not satisfied that the grant of the licence is necessary for the purpose of securing adequate slaughterhouse facilities or expedient for special reasons, shall direct the authority to refuse the application forthwith; or
(b ) if he is satisfied as aforesaid, shall direct that, save as required by section five or section six of this Act, the application shall not be refused unless the authority are not, in relation to the premises in respect of which the application is made, satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (b ) of subsection (2) of section one of this Act or, in a case to which that subsection does not apply, as mentioned in subsection (1) or subsection (2) of section sixty-five of the principal Act,
and the authority shall comply with any direction given under this subsection.
(4) Where in the case of any premises—
(a ) a new slaughterhouse licence in respect thereof has been granted in pursuance of a direction under the last foregoing subsection; or
(b ) those premises have under subsection (3) of the said section seventy-five been...
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