Manoeuvres Act 1958

6 Supplementary provisions as to issue of directions

(1) Where a manoeuvres commission formed in connection with a manoeuvres Order propose to issue any directions under the last foregoing section, the commission shall consult the Secretary of State for War and such other authorities or organisations as they consider appropriate, and shall send to every local authority any part of whose area is comprised within the manoeuvres area the following documents, that is to say—

(a) a draft of the directions ; and

(b) a copy of the Order,

together with a notice specifying the time (not being less than twenty-one days) within which, and the manner in which, representations may be made to the commission with respect to the draft directions.

(2) A local authority, upon receiving the documents and notice aforesaid, shall make the documents available for a period of not less than two weeks for inspection by the public during reasonable hours at the offices of the authority or at such other place, being a place within their area, as they may consider appropriate, and shall cause to be published in each week of that period in one or more local newspapers circulating in their area notice of the receipt of those documents stating—

(a) the place at which and the hours during which the documents may be inspected ; and

(b) in accordance with the notice sent to the local authority,the time within which, and the manner in which, representations may be made to the commission with respect to the draft directions.

(3) Where any such representations are duly made, the commission shall, after giving not less than fourteen days' notice by advertisement in such local newspapers as appear to them to be appropriate, hold a public inquiry (or, if they think fit, two or more public inquiries) into those representations, and shall make such alterations, if any, in the draft directions as they may think fit having regard to those representations and to the results of any such inquiry.

(4) Not later than four months before the beginning of the manoeuvres period, the commission shall transmit the draft directions with any alterations made under the last foregoing subsection to the Secretary of State for War.

(5) Where any draft directions transmitted to the Secretary of State under this section include any such provisions as are mentioned in subsection (3) of section five of this Act, and the Secretary of State is satisfied that any of those provisions would be likely to have the effect of frustrating all or some of the purposes of the manoeuvres Order, the Secretary of State may not later than three months before the beginning of the manoeuvres period by notice in writing to the commission (a copy of which he shall cause to be laid before each House of Parliament) require the draft directions to be varied by deleting those provisions or by modifying them in such manner as may be specified in the notice:

Provided that any variation required by the Secretary of State by virtue of this subsection shall be the minimum which in his opinion is necessary to prevent any of the purposes of the Order from being frustrated.

(6) Where the Secretary of State determines that no variation of the draft directions is required, he shall as soon as may be give notice to the commission of that determination.

(7) As soon as may be after receipt of a notice under either of the two last foregoing subsections or, if by the date falling three months before the beginning of the manoeuvres period no such notice has been received, as soon as may be after that date, the commission shall issue the directions in the form of the draft transmitted to the Secretary of State with any variations required by the Secretary of State under subsection (5) of this section; and where any directions are issued with any such variation the directions shall indicate the nature and extent of the variation.

(8) On the issue of the directions the commission shall publish them in such manner as they may consider most suitable for giving notice of the directions to all persons likely to be affected by them.

(9) Where, in a case to which subsection (5) of section five of this Act applies, directions fall to be issued separately for different parts of the manoeuvres area, the reference to that area in subsection (1) of this section shall be construed as a reference to the part of that area in relation to which the functions of the commission in question fall to be exercised.