Sections 8 and 9.
1A board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.
2(1)The first members of a board shall come into office on the day on which the board come into existence, or, in the case of such a member for any reason appointed after that day, on the day on Which the appointment is made.
(2)Any other member shall come into office on the day following that on which the member he replaces vacates office, or, in the case of such a member for any reason appointed after that day, on the day on which the appointment is made.
(3)Subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, a member shall vacate office at the end of—
(a)June in the case of a regional water board, or
(b)July in the case of a water development board—
in the year in which the election of county councillors next takes place.
(4)Where the constitution of a board is varied by order any members who are required by or under the order to vacate their office shall do so notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this paragraph.
3A member of a board may resign his office at any time by notice in writing signed by him and delivered to the clerk of the board and the resignation shall take effect on such date as may be stated in the notice, or, if no date is so stated, three weeks after the delivery of the notice.
4A member of a board shall vacate his office if he—
(a)ceases to be a member of the constituent council or the constituent board from which he was appointed in pursuance of section 8 or 9 of this Act, or
(b)has, for a period of twelve consecutive months, been absent from meetings of the board, otherwise than by reason of illness or some other cause approved during that period by the board:
Provided that for the purposes of head (b) of this paragraph, the attendance of a member at a meeting of any committee of the board shall be treated as attendance at a meeting of the board.
5(1)Where, for any reason whatsoever, the place of a member of a board becomes vacant before the end of his term of office, the vacancy shall be filled by the appointment under this paragraph of a new member.
(2)Subject to the next following sub-paragraph, an appointment made under this paragraph in respect of any vacancy shall be made by the constituent council or constituent board by whom the vacating member was appointed, or, if the vacating member was appointed jointly by any constituent councils and they are unable to agree on an appointment, by the Secretary of State on behalf of those councils.
(3)Where the vacating member was appointed by the Secretary of State on behalf of any constituent councils, the new member shall be appointed by the councils in question jointly, or, if those councils are unable to agree on an appointment, by the Secretary of State on their behalf.
6(1)Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, a person shall be disqualified for appointment as a member of a board if he is a paid officer or servant of the board.
(2)For the purposes of the foregoing sub-paragraph, a person shall not be regarded as a paid officer or servant of a board by reason only that expenses incurred by him in the performance of his duties are defrayed by the board.
7Subject to the provisions of this Act, a vacating member of a board shall be eligible for re-appointment.
8The first meeting of a board shall be held on such day, and at such time and place, and shall be convened by such person, as may be determined by the Secretary of State.
9The chairman of a board shall be elected by the board from the members of the board.
10The election of the chairman shall be the first business transacted at the first meeting of the board and, thereafter, at the first meeting of the board held after each triennial reconstitution of the board, and at any such meeting until the chairman is elected, the person by whom under paragraph 8 of this Schedule the meeting was convened, or the clerk of the board, as the case may be, shall preside.
11(1)A board may appoint from their number such committees for any such purpose as the board consider necessary or desirable.
(2)A board may delegate to a committee appointed under this paragraph, with or without restrictions or conditions, as they think fit, any of the functions of the board.
12The number of members of a committee appointed under this Schedule, and the terms of office of the members thereof, shall be fixed by the board.
13The proceedings of a board, or of any committee appointed under this Schedule, shall not be invalidated by any vacancy in their number or by any defect in the appointment, or the qualification for appointment, of any person as a member, or as chairman or vice-chairman, of the board or committee.
14(1)A board may make standing orders with respect to—
(a)the proceedings and conduct (including quorum, place of meeting and notices to be given of meetings) of the board or any committee appointed by the board under this Schedule ; and
(b)subject to paragraphs 9 and 10 of this Schedule, the appointment of a chairman and a vice-chairman of the board or any such committee.
(2)Subject to standing orders made under this paragraph, the proceedings of any committee appointed under this Schedule shall be such as the committee may determine.
15At any meeting of a board or of a committee appointed under this Schedule, each member shall have one vote:
Provided that in the event of an equality of votes—
(a)as to the appointment of the chairman of a board or the appointment of a member of a regional water board to be a member of a water development board, the matter shall be decided by lot, and
(b)in regard to any other matter, the chairman or other member presiding at the meeting shall have a casting vote as well as a deliberative vote.
16The provisions of section 73 of the [1947 c. 43.] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (disability of members of local authority for voting on account of interest in contract) shall apply in relation to members of a board, or of any committee appointed under this Schedule, as those provisions apply in relation to members of local authorities, as if, for the references therein to the local authority, there were substituted references to the board.
17(1)Subject to the next following sub-paragraph, the minutes of proceedings of meetings of a board shall be open to the inspection of any local government elector in any part of the board's area on payment of a fee not exceeding one shilling, and any such local government elector may make a copy of, or extracts from, any such minutes.
(2)The last foregoing sub-paragraph does not apply to any part of such minutes which contains information with respect to any manufacturing process or trade secret obtained in the exercise of powers under the Water (Scotland) Acts 1946 to 1967.
18The provisions of section 342 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (execution of deeds by local authority and use of seal) shall apply to a board as those provisions apply to a county council as if for references therein to a county council there were substituted references to the board.
19(1)Any notice or other document which a board are required or authorised to give, make or issue by or under this Act or any other enactment may be signed on behalf of the board by their clerk or by any other officer authorised by them in writing to sign documents of the particular kind or, as the case may be, the particular document; and any document purporting to bear the signature of the clerk of the board, or of a person expressed to be duly authorised by them to sign such a document, or that particular document, shall be deemed, until the contrary is proved, to be duly given, made or issued by authority of the board.
(2)In this paragraph the expression " signature" includes a facsimile of a signature by whatever process reproduced.
20A board shall appoint, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State in the case of appointments made within the period of three years after the board come into existence, an engineer who shall, unless the Secretary of State otherwise approves, be employed whole-time by the board in that capacity.
21A board shall appoint a clerk, a treasurer and such other officers and servants as the board think fit, but the office of treasurer shall not be held by the engineer or except with the approval of the Secretary of State by the clerk.
22A board may pay to the officers and servants appointed by them such reasonable remuneration as the board may determine.
23All such officers and servants as aforesaid shall hold office during the pleasure of the board but the engineer, the clerk and the treasurer shall not be removed from office except by a resolution of the board passed by not less than two-thirds of the members present at a meeting of the board the notice of which specifies the consideration of the removal from office of the engineer, the clerk, or the treasurer, as the case may be, as an item of business.
24The provisions of section 97 (local authority may regulate duties of officers, etc.), section 98 (security to be given by officers), section 100 (notice of termination of appointments held during pleasure), section 101 (member of local authority not to be appointed officer of board), section 102 (disclosure by officers of interest in contracts), and section 103 (protection of officers acting in execution of duty) of the [1947 c. 43.] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 shall apply in relation to officers of a board and other persons as those provisions apply in relation to officers of a local authority and other persons, as if for any reference therein to the local authority there were substituted a reference to the board.
25A board shall be a body to which Part VI of the [1948 c. 26.] Local Government Act 1948 applies, and section 119(1) in that Part shall apply to a board as it applies to a county council.
26A board may defray—
(a)any expenses incurred in the reception and entertainment by way of official courtesy of—
(i)distinguished persons residing in the area of the board, or visiting that area or any works outside the area operated by the board, or
(ii)persons representative of, or connected with, other boards or similar services, whether inside or outside the United Kingdom,
or in the supply of information to any such persons ;
(b)any reasonable expenses incurred in connection with ceremonies connected with the performance by the board of any of their functions.
27A board may pay reasonable subscriptions, whether annually or otherwise, or contributions to the funds—
(a)of any association formed for the purpose of consultation as to the common interests of boards and the discussion of matters connected with the performance of functions of boards or similar services ;
(b)of associations of officers of boards or similar services, being associations formed for the purpose mentioned in the foregoing sub-paragraph,
and may make reasonable contributions for furthering research in matters with which boards and their officers are concerned.
28The following provisions of Part XX of the [1947 c. 43.] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 shall apply to a board for the purposes of this Act as those provisions apply to a local authority for the purposes of that Act: section 336 (contracts and obligations), section 337 (protection of members and officers), section 345 (appearance in legal proceedings), section 346 (service of legal proceedings and notices), section 348 (claims in sequestrations and liquidations), section 349 (service of notices), section 350 (evidence of resolutions etc.), section 352 (misnomers), and subsection (1) of section 366 (provisions as to Sundays, etc.).
29In this Schedule " board " means a regional water board or a water development board, and " area " means the region or the area, as the case may be, of such a board.