Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

69 Provisions relating to appeals etc. to the Secretary of State under certain provisions

(1) On an appeal to the Secretary of State under section 64 of the 1936 Act, section 7 of the 1961 Act or section 64 of this Act, the Secretary of State may at his discretion afford to the appellant and the local authority an opportunity of appearing before, and being heard by, a person appointed by the Secretary of State for the purpose.

(2) On determining any such appeal as is mentioned in subsection (1) above, the Secretary of State shall give such directions, if any, as he considers appropriate for giving effect to his determination.

(3) Where the Secretary of State gives a decision in proceedings—

(a) on any such appeal as is mentioned in subsection (1) above; or

(b) on a reference under section 67 of the 1936 Act; or

(c) on any application for a direction under section 6 of the 1961 Act where the power of giving the direction is not exercisable by the local authority,

the relevant person or the local authority may appeal to the High Court against the decision on a point of law.

In this subsection " the relevant person "—

(i) as regards such an appeal as is mentioned in paragraph (a) above, means the appellant;

(ii) as regards a reference under the said section 67, means the person on whose application (jointly with the local authority) the reference was made ;

(iii) as regards any such application as is mentioned in paragraph (c) above, means the applicant.

(4) At any stage of the proceedings on any such appeal, reference or application as is mentioned in the preceding subsection, the Secretary of State may state any question of law arising in the course of the proceedings in the form of a special case for the decision of the High Court; and a decision of the High Court on a case stated by virtue of this subsection shall be deemed to be a judgment of the court within the meaning of section 27 of the [1925 c. 49.] Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act 1925 (jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to hear and determine appeals from any judgment of the High Court).

(5) In relation to any proceedings in the High Court or the Court of Appeal brought by virtue of this section the power to make rules of court shall include power to make rules—

(a) prescribing the powers of the High Court or the Court of Appeal with respect to the remitting of the matter with the opinion or direction of the court for re-hearing and determination by the Secretary of State ; and

(b) providing for the Secretary of State, either generally or in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the rules, to be treated as a party to any such proceedings and to be entitled to appear and to be heard accordingly.

(6) Rules of court relating to any such proceedings as are mentioned in subsection (5) of this section may provide for excluding so much of section 63(1) of the said Act of 1925 as requires appeals to the High Court to be heard and determined by a Divisional Court; but no appeal to the Court of Appeal shall be brought by virtue of this section except with the leave of the High Court or the Court of Appeal.

(7) In this section " decision" includes a direction, and references to the giving of a decision shall be construed accordingly.

(8) Without prejudice to section 4(5) of the 1961 Act, building regulations may in connection with any such appeal as is mentioned in subsection (1) above include such supplementary provisions with respect to procedure as the Secretary of State thinks fit.