STATUTE LAW REVISION: SIXTEENTH ... - Law Commission

cesser but which are no longer needed. The proposals affecting exempted
provisions are outlined below under the headings “Statutory Undertaking
Provisions”, “Protective Provisions”, “Bridges” and “Miscellaneous Provisions”.
Finally, the opportunity has been taken to include for repeal other enactments
which have been identified in the course of consultation as being spent, obsolete
or unnecessary.
35 Statutory Undertaking Provisions
5.1 The Local Government Act 1972 exempted from cesser all local statutory
provisions relating to a statutory undertaking, namely, any railway, light railway,
tramway, road transport, water transport, canal, inland navigation, ferry, dock,
harbour, pier or lighthouse undertaking, any telephone undertaking, any market
undertaking or any undertaking for the supply of electricity, gas, hydraulic power,
water 13 or district heating. However, local authorities have been directly involved
in many of these activities and their inherited legislation reflects the functions for
which they were formerly responsible, either directly or as the successor to
private companies. A detailed examination of this legislation shows that much of
it is now redundant both as respects the local authorities to whom it originally
related and as respects the successor undertakers.
5.2 Local authorities lost their functions relating to electricity, gas and water following
the nationalisation of the electricity and gas industries in 1948-49 and the
establishment of statutory water authorities in 1973. Accordingly, the local
statutory provisions relating to the following matters are proposed for repeal:
(a) specific powers for operating former local authority undertakings
which were superseded by the general powers contained in the
Electricity Act 1947, 14 the Gas Act 1948 15 or, in the case of water
undertakings, were unnecessary for the achievement of the
purposes for which the statutory water authorities were created in
1973 and have been superseded by the powers given to water and
sewerage undertakers by the Water Act 1989; 16
(b) provisions to regulate the management of the former local authority
undertakings, and to regulate relations between local authorities as
electricity, gas or water undertakers which became unnecessary
following the nationalisation of the electricity and gas industries or
the creation of water authorities under the Water Act 1973;
(c) supply code provisions (ie provisions dealing with the relationship
between the undertakers and their customers and with the
13 The statutory reference to “water” was repealed by the Water Act 1973, but the relevant
local statutory provisions were continued in operation in a modified form by the Water Act
1973,
s 34(2) and Sch 6 Pt II which remain in force although they have been prospectively
repealed by the Water Act 1989, ss 190(3), 194(3) and (4) and Sch 27, Pt II.
14 See now Electricity Act 1989.
15 See now Gas Act 1986 as amended by Gas Act 1995.
16 See now Water Industry Act 1991.
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