Fire Services Act 1947

8 Constitution and powers of fire authorities constituted by combination schemes.

(1) A fire authority constituted by a combination scheme shall consist of such representatives of each of the constituent areas as may be prescribed by the scheme, and every such authority shall be a body corporate by such name as may be prescribed by the scheme with a common seal and with power to hold land without licence in mortmain.

(2) Provision may be made by a combination scheme for applying in relation to the constitution and proceedings of the fire authority thereby constituted, and in relation to the officers of that authority, any of the provisions of Parts II to IV of the Local Government Act, 1933 (which contain general provisions as to members, committees and officers of local authorities), subject to such modifications as may be prescribed by the scheme.

(3) The Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act, 1946, and the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1933, with respect to the acquisition of land by agreement and the appropriation and disposal of land shall apply to fire authorities constituted by combination schemes as they apply to fire authorities being councils of counties or county boroughs, and accordingly references in the said Act of 1946 and the said provisions of the said Act of 1933 to local authorities shall include references to fire authorities constituted by combination schemes.

(4) For the purposes of the discharge of their functions under a combination scheme, the fire authority constituted by the scheme shall have the powers of the council of a county or county borough in relation to the borrowing of money for fire service purposes, and the provisions of Part IX of the Local Government Act, 1933, and of any other enactment relating to the borrowing of money by local authorities shall apply accordingly, subject to such adaptations and modifications as may be prescribed by the scheme.

(5) The accounts of every fire authority constituted by a combination scheme shall be subject to audit by a district auditor under Part X of the Local Government Act, 1933.

(6) A fire authority constituted by a combination scheme may, if so authorised by the scheme, make arrangements with any constituent authority for the use by the fire authority of the services of officers and servants of the constituent authority and for the making of contracts and payments on behalf of the fire authority by the constituent authority.

(7) The [1 Edw. 8. & 1 Geo. 6. c. 68.] Local Government Superannuation Act, 1937, shall have effect as if a fire authority constituted by a combination scheme were included among the local authorities specified in Part I of the First Schedule to that Act, and in relation to contributory employees of such a fire authority the appropriate superannuation fund for the purposes of that Act shall be such fund as may be determined by or under the scheme.

(8) For the purposes of section pine of the [25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 23.] Superannuation Act, 1935 (which makes provision for civil servants entering the service of a local authority and officers of a local authority becoming civil servants) a fire authority constituted by a combination scheme shall be deemed to be a local authority.