38.—(1) Such local library authorities as the Registrar may require shall, not later than 30th September in each year, furnish to the Registrar lists, as at 31st March of that year, of all their ordinary service points and all their principal service points, and the Registrar shall, not later than 31st December of that year, designate in accordance with paragraph (6) those service points which are to be operative sampling points as from the beginning of the ensuing sampling year.
(2) The Registrar shall so exercise his powers under this Article as to secure, subject to paragraph (4), that—
(a)at all times there shall be 16 operative sampling points comprising—
(i)3 points falling within each of Groups A and B in Schedule 2, in each case, subject to paragraph (3), including a principal service point and an ordinary service point, and
(ii)2 points falling within each of the other groups, subject to paragraph (3), being a principal service point and an ordinary service point respectively;
(b)at all times one of the 2 operative sampling points falling within Group E in Schedule 2 shall be within either the county of Dyfed or that of Gwynedd;
(c)with effect from the beginning of each sampling year, 4 out of the 16 operative sampling points shall be replaced by new such points, and
(d)no service point remains an operative sampling point for a continuous period of more than four years.
(3) The relevant local library authority shall notify the Registrar of any change in the categorisation of a sampling point as a principal or ordinary service point but the Registrar shall not be required by paragraph (2)(a) to discontinue the designation of the point as a sampling point before the expiry of the sampling year in which he receives such notice or, if that year has less than six months to run, before the expiry of the next following sampling year.
For the purposes of this paragraph and of paragraph (2)(a), a change in the categorisation of a sampling point shall be disregarded if it is occasioned by an increase or decrease of less than 10% in the number of loans made therefrom.
(4) The local library authority shall notify the Registrar of any decision to close a sampling point and the date on which the closure takes effect but, if it is not reasonably practicable for the Registrar to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (2) before the closure takes effect, those requirements shall be treated as satisfied if satisfied as soon as is reasonably practicable thereafter.
(5) If it appears to the Registrar that an accurate sample would thereby be obtained more effectively, he may with effect from the beginning of the next sampling year, replace an existing sampling point by a new point, by designating such new sampling point in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (6), and by notifying the local library authority responsible that the existing sampling point is to be discontinued.
(6) The Registrar shall give to the local library authority responsible for a sampling point—
(a)for the purposes of designating that point under paragraph (1), notice in writing of such designation specifying the period he intends the point to be an operative sampling point;
(b)for the purpose of discontinuing that point as a sampling point, not less than six months notice in writing of such discontinuance.