Chapter 1: Powers of Entry
34.A power of entry is a right for a person (usually a state official of a specified description, for example, police officers, local authority trading standards officers, or the enforcement staff of a regulatory body) to enter into a private dwelling, business premises, land or vehicles (or a combination of these) for defined purposes (for example, to search for and seize evidence as part of an investigation, or to inspect the premises to ascertain whether regulatory requirements have been complied with). There are around 1300 separate powers of entry contained in both primary and secondary legislation(8). A Home Office-led review of powers of entry, initiated by the previous Administration in October 2007, was on-going at the time of the 2010 general election; background information about that review is archived on the Home Office website(9).