56.Section 10 confers powers on an “authorised officer” of an enforcement authority to require, by notice, documents or other information for the purposes of investigating whether an offence has been committed under the Act in relation to a dwelling located in the enforcement authority’s area. The notice issued by the authorised officer will specify when, where and to whom the documents or information must be produced.
57.The powers conferred by this section are exercisable in relation to a limited category of persons. These persons are identified in subsection (4) and they comprise any person who is, or has been, a landlord, contract-holder or letting agent. Subsection (8) provides that a reference to a document includes information which is not in legible form (for example, because it is stored on a computer server).
58.The powers conferred by this section may not be used to require a person to produce documents that, on the grounds of legal professional privilege, the person would be entitled to refuse to produce or provide in proceeding in the High Court. An example would be documents containing legal advice from a person’s solicitor.