Health Act 1956

For the purposes of this Part, every local authority shall, subject to the provisions of any regulations made under this Act, appoint 1 or more environmental health officers, being not less in any case than the number required in that behalf by the Director-General.

Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) or in any other enactment, the Minister may at any time, acting on the recommendation of the Director-General, by notice in writing given to 2 or more local authorities, require those local authorities to combine to appoint an environmental health officer upon and subject to such terms and conditions as to payment of the salary and expenses of the environmental health officer, and as to the apportionment of his or her duties among the local authorities, as may be agreed upon between the local authorities:

If the local authorities to whom any such notice is given fail to agree on any question relating to the salary, expenses, or apportionment of duties of any such environmental health officer, the question shall be determined by the Director-General. If any such local authority is dissatisfied with the determination of the Director-General, it may appeal to the Minister against the determination by notice in writing given within 1 month after it has received notice of the Director-General’s determination. Notice of the appeal shall at the same time be given to the other local authorities who are parties to the dispute. On any such appeal the Minister may either confirm the Director-General’s determination or vary it as the Minister thinks fit, and the Minister’s decision shall be final and binding on the parties to the dispute.

Every environmental health officer appointed under subsection (2) shall be deemed for the purposes of this Part to be the environmental health officer for each of the districts of the local authorities by whom he or she is appointed.

While any regulations are in force under this Act prescribing the qualifications to be possessed by persons appointed as environmental health officers, no person shall be appointed by any local authority as an environmental health officer who is not qualified for appointment as such in accordance with those regulations.

If any local authority fails to appoint or to continue to employ such number of environmental health officers as the Director-General may require, or fails to appoint an environmental health officer when required to do so by the Minister as aforesaid, any health protection officer authorised in that behalf by the Director-General may carry out the duties of an environmental health officer within the district of that local authority; and in any such case the salary and expenses of that health protection officer for the period during which he or she so acts, or such proportion thereof as the Director-General may appoint, shall be payable by the local authority, and may be recovered accordingly as a debt due to the Crown, or may be deducted from any money payable to that local authority out of a Crown Bank Account or any departmental bank account.

Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, any local authority may with the approval of the Director-General, instead of appointing any environmental health officer as aforesaid, pay into a Crown Bank Account from time to time such sums as may be agreed on between the Director-General and the local authority towards the salary and expenses of a health protection officer; and in any such case the powers, functions, and duties of an environmental health officer within the district of that local authority shall be exercised and performed by such health protection officer as for the time being is authorised in that behalf by the Director-General.

No agreement entered into by a local authority for the purposes of subsection (7) shall, except with the concurrence of the Director-General, be terminated unless at least 12 months’ notice in writing of intention to terminate the agreement has been given to the Director-General by the local authority.