Section 18 places a statutory obligation on the Department to report to the Assembly on the operation of the Act. This creates a formal mechanism by which the Department may be held to account for the way in which the Act’s provisions have been implemented or, in the case of those not yet in force by the latest date for the report (end of 2014), for the preparations for implementation. Subsection (2) allows the Department to make further such reports and subsection (3) provides that any report must be laid before the Assembly.
Section 19(1) provides the Department with the power to make provision for the purpose of giving full effect to the Act. Subsections (2) to (6) detail when the repeals and revocations in Schedule 6 come into effect. Subsection (8) amends Article 17 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 to add the Act to the list of enactments covered by that provision.
Section 20 lists definitions used throughout the Act.
Section 21 provides that certain provisions in the Act shall come into operation on a day appointed by the Department.