The Urban Waste Water Treatment (Scotland) Regulations 1994

Enforcement of duties imposed on local authorities

14.—(1) If the Secretary of State is satisfied that a local authority has failed to do anything it is required to do by or under regulation 4, 5, 7 or 13 of these Regulations, or is likely to do so, he may, subject to paragraph (2) below, make an order declaring the authority to be in default and directing it for the purpose of remedying the default to take such steps and within such time or times as may be specified in the order.

(2) The Secretary of State shall be obliged to make an order under paragraph (1) above unless he is satisfied–

(a) that the failure or the apprehended failure was of a trivial nature; or

(b) in the case of an apprehended failure, that the authority has given, and is complying with, an undertaking to take all such steps as it appears to the Secretary of State to be appropriate, for the time being, for it to take for the purpose of securing or facilitating compliance with the duty in question.

(3) If the authority declared to be in default by such an order fails to comply with any requirement thereof within the time specified therein for compliance, the Court of Session may, on the application of the Lord Advocate on behalf of the Secretary of State, order specific performance of the duty in respect of which there has been default, and do otherwise as to the Court appears to be just.