Part 5 – General
Overview of Part 5
303.Part 5 makes provision in relation to offences by bodies corporate and specifies who may bring prosecutions for offences under the Act. It makes provision about regulations made under the Act, including the Senedd procedure that applies to particular regulation-making powers.
304.Part 5 also makes general provision in relation to the giving of notices and other documents under the Act. It makes provision for special cases, including Church of England land. It provides definitions for terms used in the Act, and an index of defined terms, listing where they are to be found in the Act. It includes provision about when the provisions of the Act will come into force. It sets out the Act’s short title. Part 5 comprises sections 76 to 93.
Section 76 - Offences by bodies corporate
305.This section provides that where an offence in this Act, or in regulations made under it, is committed by a body corporate, and it is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a senior officer of the body, or a person purporting to be a senior officer, or to be attributable to their neglect, that person (as well as the body corporate) will be guilty of an offence and is liable to be prosecuted.
Section 77 - Bringing proceedings
306.The Authority and the Director of Public Prosecutions may bring a prosecution in respect of an offence in this Act, or in regulations made under it.
307.Third parties may also bring a private prosecution in respect of an offence in the Act, or in regulations made under it, but need the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions to do so.
Section 78 – Power to make consequential, transitional etc, provision
308.This section enables the Welsh Ministers to make regulations that make consequential, supplementary or incidental provision, or transitional or saving provision, in the circumstances described in subsection (1). Regulations made under this section may modify, amend, revoke or repeal any enactment (including an enactment contained in this Act).
Section 79 - Regulations under this Act
309.This section provides that each power in the Act to make regulations is exercisable by statutory instrument.
310.Subsections (3), (4) and (5) provide that a statutory instrument containing regulations made under the following provisions of the Act are to be made under the affirmative procedure (i.e. a draft of the instrument must be laid before, and approved by a resolution of, Senedd Cymru):
section 10(5) (change to minimum number or period of inspections for category 1 tips or category 2 tips);
section 20(4), section 22(4) or section 29(3) (change to minimum period for making representations to the Authority);
section 40 (Procedure etc for appeals under Chapter 1 of Part 3);
section 43 (Procedure etc. for claims for reimbursement of owners’ expenses under Chapter 1 of Part 3);
section 58 (Change to meaning of “relevant public authority” in Part 4);
section 85 (Application of Act to land owned by the Authority);
section 86 (Change to meaning of “disused tip”);
paragraph 2(4) of Schedule 1 (change to the number of members of the Authority);
paragraph 19(11) of Schedule 1 (change to the period to which the Authority’s corporate plan relates);
section 78 (Power to make consequential, transitional etc. provision) - where the regulations modify any primary legislation. “Primary legislation” is defined in subsection (7).
311.Subsection (6) provides that statutory instruments containing regulations made under any other power in the Act are subject to the negative procedure.
Section 80 – General provision about giving notices etc.
312.This section contains provision about how notices or other documents are to be given.
313.Subsection (8) provides that this section does not apply in relation to the Crown. See, instead, section 82.
Section 81 – Additional provision about giving notices etc. to persons occupying or interested in land
314.This section applies, in addition to section 80, where there is a requirement to give a notice or other document to a person with an estate or interest in land or to someone who is occupying land. It provides additional methods of properly giving notice to these persons. These might be relied upon when the name or address of a person cannot be discovered despite reasonable inquiries having been made.
315.Subsection (6) provides that this section does not apply to the Crown. Section 82 makes provision in respect of notices etc. that must be given to the Crown.
Section 82 – Giving notices etc. to the Crown
316.This section provides that where a notice or other document is to be given to the Crown, it must be given to the appropriate Crown authority. “Appropriate Crown authority” is defined in section 89(6).
Section 83 – Raising of money in particular cases to meet expenditure
317.This section makes provision so that the payment of “relevant expenditure” is included as an authorised purpose for the application of moneys under section 71 and 73 of the Settled Land Act 1925, section 25 of the Duchy of Lancaster Act 1817 and section 8 of the Duchy of Cornwall Management Act 1863.
318.Subsection (2) defines the term “relevant expenditure”.
Section 84 – Church of England land
319.This section makes provision relevant to the way in which the Act applies to land belonging to the Church of England and reflects the unique structure of the Church of England. There are a small number of Church of England dioceses that have land in Wales.
320.Subsection (5) defines terms that are used in the section.
Section 85 – Power to modify application of Act to Authority land
321.This section provides the Welsh Ministers with a regulation-making power. Should the Authority acquire an estate or interest in land in the future, this provision enables the Welsh Ministers, by regulations, to modify the application of the Act in relation to that land.
Interpretation
Section 86 - Meaning of “tip” and “disused tip”
322.This section defines “tip” and “disused tip”.
323.Both definitions encompass coal and non-coal tips. Non-coal tips (of which there are many in Wales) could, for example, include tips that are a legacy of historic metal mining and mineral quarrying in Wales.
324.Subsection (3) provides that tips that are located “wholly or partly in Wales” fall within the definition of “disused tip”. The Act provides the Authority with the power to act in respect of tips that straddle the border, and the Authority is subject to duties in relation to tips that fall solely within Wales as well those that are partly in Wales and partly in England (cross- border tips). How the Act applies to cross-border tips is explained at paragraph 301 above.
325.Subsection (3) places tips that are subject to the provisions of the Quarries Regulations 1999 (“
326.If either the 1999 Regulations or the 2014 Regulations are revoked or amended, subsection (4) enables the Welsh Ministers, by regulations, to amend the meaning of “disused tip”. This power reflects the interplay between the Act and the legislation governing active tips and the need to avoid overlap.
327.Subsection (5) gives the Welsh Ministers a regulation-making power that enables them to set out certain descriptions of tip that would fall outside the definition of a “disused tip” either altogether or for the purposes of those provisions of the Act specified in the regulations. The descriptions could refer to a tip’s height, gradient, volume, surface area or the material from which it is composed, or any combination of these.
328.Regulations under subsection (5) could, for example, provide that the Authority is not under a duty to carry out its functions under Part 2 of the Act in relation to tips where there is a negligible accumulation or deposit of waste.
329.Subsection (6) requires the Welsh Ministers to consult such persons as they consider appropriate before making regulations under subsection (5).
Section 87 - Meaning of “threat to human welfare”
330.This section defines what is meant by “threat to human welfare”. “Threat to human welfare” is a central concept within the Act: section 2(1) provides that the Authority must exercise its functions under the Act with a view to ensuring that disused tips do not threaten human welfare by reason of their instability. The concept arises throughout the Act, including in the provisions relating to the Authority’s duty to compile and maintain a register (section 6), the criteria for registration of a disused tip (section 7), the categorisation of disused tips in the register (section 24), the issuing of notices requiring owners of land to carry out operations (section 35) and the Authority’s power to carry out operations on land itself (section 44).
331.Examples of scenarios where a disused tip could pose a threat to human welfare are provided in paragraphs 24 - 27.
Section 88 – Meaning of “owner”
332.This section defines “
Section 89 – Definitions relating to the Crown
333.This section defines certain terms used in the Act that relate to the Crown: “Crown land”, “Crown interest”, “Duchy interest”, “private interest” and “appropriate Crown authority”. It clarifies that “the Crown” is to be treated as including the Senedd Commission.
Section 90 – General interpretation
334.This section defines “the court” and “operations”.
Section 91 - Index of defined terms
335.This section provides an index of the terms that are defined or otherwise explained in the Act.
Section 92 – Coming into force
336.This section makes provision about when the provisions of the Act come into force.
337.Subsection (1) provides that Part 5 will come into force on the day after the day on which this Bill receives Royal Assent.
338.Subsection (2) provides that sections 1,2 and 5 and Schedule 1 will come into force on 1 April 2027.
339.Subsection (3) provides that the other provisions of this Act will come into force on a day appointed by the Welsh Ministers in an order made by statutory instrument. Subsection (4) enables such an order to make transitional or saving provision.
Section 93 – Short title
340.Section 93 sets out the short title of the Act, by which it may be known and referred. Either the Welsh or the English language title of the Act may be used, including as a citation in other enactments.