Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Council of every borough and the Council of every town district shall establish and maintain an abattoir for the purposes of its district unless—

An abattoir that has been heretofore established and is being maintained at the commencement of this section shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been established thereunder.

If, at the commencement of this section, any local authority that is required by subsection (1) of this section to establish an abattoir has not established an abattoir, it shall, unless it has within twelve months after the commencement of this section or within such extended time (if any) as the Minister may allow been exempted or excused in accordance with this Act from doing so, establish an abattoir.

The Minister may by notice in writing exempt, subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed in the notice, the Council of any borough or of any town district from the provisions of this section requiring the Council to establish or maintain an abattoir.”

Any local authority that by this Act is required to establish or to maintain an abattoir, or any local authority that, in accordance with section 9 of this Act, has made a special order for the establishment of an abattoir, or any committee appointed under subsection (3) of section 14 of this Act as the controlling authority of an abattoir may, with the approval of the Minister, from time to time delegate to any fit person (including a company) its power to establish or to maintain the abattoir.

Any local authority or committee authorised under subsection (1) of this section to delegate its power to establish or to maintain an abattoir may, with the approval of the Minister, make two or more separate and concurrent delegations of any such power, and the provisions of this section shall apply to every such delegation.

Any local authority that has delegated its powers under this section may, with the approval of the Minister, establish or maintain an abattoir in all respects as if its power to do so had not been delegated.

Where any committee appointed under subsection (3) of section 14 of this Act has made a delegation under this section to a company in which all the shares are held or of which all the liabilities are guaranteed by the local authorities appointing the committee, the company may itself delegate all the powers and authorities delegated to it in all respects as if the company were the committee making the original delegation.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any enactment, any local authority that is a party to the appointment of a committee under subsection (3) of section 14 of this Act may subscribe for, acquire, and hold shares in or guarantee the liabilities of a company referred to in subsection (4) of this section and to which the committee intends to make or to which it has made a delegation under this section.

Every instrument of delegation under this section shall be by deed under the seal of the corporation or signed by or on behalf of the committee, as the case may require, and shall be signed by or on behalf of the person to whom the delegation is made. Where the delegation is by or to a company, the seal of the company shall be affixed to the instrument of delegation.

Every such instrument of delegation shall contain only such terms, conditions, and provisions as the Minister may approve, and shall operate as an agreement between the authority or committee making the delegation and the person to whom the delegation is made.

Where an abattoir is operated pursuant to an instrument of delegation, the controlling authority of the abattoir shall, while the instrument of delegation continues in force, be the person or company operating the abattoir under the instrument of delegation and the district of the abattoir shall be the district of the local authority by which the delegation was made or, in the case of a delegation by a committee or a company delegating under subsection (4) of this section, the districts of the local authorities appointing the committee:

“Provided that where an abattoir is established or maintained for a defined part of any district or districts, the district of the abattoir shall be that defined part.

Every instrument of delegation under this section shall contain provisions for the termination of the delegation if the person to whom the delegation is made fails to establish the abattoir, or to maintain its efficiency (having regard to the requirements of the district) or for any other sufficient reason. In the event of the termination of a delegation by a local authority, any obligation of the local authority to establish an abattoir, or to maintain an abattoir, as the case may be, shall be immediately revived.”