Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968

26 Power to require information.

(1) A river authority may serve on any person appearing to them to be the occupier of any land in their area a notice requiring him to furnish to the authority, within twenty-eight days beginning with the date of service of the notice on him, a return in writing, in such form as may be specified in the notice, containing such particulars as may reasonably be required for the purpose of enabling the authority to determine how much, if any, of the land occupied by him in their area is chargeable land and how much, if any, of it consists of commercial woodlands.

(2) A river authority may make arrangements with the Minister for the exercise by him on behalf of the authority,

in such cases as may be determined in pursuance of the arrangements, of the powers conferred on the authority by subsection (1) of this section; and any such arrangements shall contain provision for the reimbursement by the authority of any expenses incurred by the Minister in pursuance of the arrangements.

(3) Subsections (4) and (5) of section 58 of the [1948 c. 26.] Local Government Act 1948 and so much of subsection (6) of that section as does not relate to imprisonment (which provide for a fine of twenty pounds for failure or continued failure to comply with a notice under that section requiring information and a fine of one hundred pounds for making false statements in a return to such a notice) shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section.