195.This section enables a local authority to undertake enforcement action in relation to this Part of the Act. A local authority may:
bring prosecutions in respect of offences under section 95;
investigate complaints in relation to alleged offences under section 95;
take other steps with a view to reducing the incidence of offences in its area. These may include actions such as communicating with and educating body piercing practitioners, or undertaking test purchasing inspections to assess compliance.
196.Subsection (2) requires a local authority to consider at least once every 12 months a programme of enforcement action aimed at preventing the intimate piercing offences set out in section 95. A local authority must also, to the extent that it considers it appropriate to do so, carry out such a programme of enforcement action. This enforcement action may involve any or all of the steps referred to in subsection (1).
197.In undertaking its enforcement action, a local authority must carry out such consultation as it considers appropriate with the police.