Citation and commencement

1. This Order may be cited as the Local Government Act 1988 (Direct Service Organisations) (Accounts etc.)(Extension) (Wales) Order 1997 and shall come into force on 1st April 1997.

Interpretation

2. In this Order, "the Exempting Order" means the Local Government Act 1988 (Defined Activities) (Exemptions) (Wales) Order 1994(2).

Application of Part I of the Local Government Act 1988 during transitional period.

3. In relation to the Exempting Order, 30th September 1997 is the date specified for the purposes of the date mentioned in the definition of "exempting order" in section 52(3) of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (application of Part I of the Local Government Act 1988 during transitional period)(3).

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

The Local Government Act 1988 (Defined Activities) (Exemptions) (Wales) Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/339) ("the Exempting Order") was made, inter alia, under section 2(9) of the Local Government Act 1988. It has been amended by S.I. 1995/2996 and S.I. 1996/3179. In general terms, it provides an exemption during the period of local government reorganisation in Wales for county and county borough councils, combined fire authorities and National Park authorities in Wales and certain joint committees thereof ("Welsh authorities") from the competitive tendering requirements under Part I of the Local Government Act 1988. The exemption originally covered the period from 1st April 1994 until 31st March 1997 but with certain exceptions now continues until 30th September 1997.

Notwithstanding the suspension generally of the competitive tendering requirements under Part I of the Act of 1988, section 52 of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (application of Part I of the Local Government Act 1988 during transitional period) requires Welsh authorities to continue to keep accounts, submit reports and achieve specified financial objectives under section 9 to 16 of the said Act of 1988 in respect of work carried out by their Direct Service Organisations.

Section 52 of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 and the Exempting Order were applied to National Park Authorities in Wales by respectively Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 paragraph 2 to the National Park Authorities (Wales) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2803).

In relation to the Exempting Order, the present Order provides that subsection (3) of section 52 of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 is to have effect as if the date mentioned in the definition of "exempting order" in that subsection were 30th September 1997 instead of 1st April 1997. That date of 30th September 1997 is specified for that purpose in the present Order. Consequently, the said sections 9 to 16 of the said Act of 1988 shall continue to apply in relation to work carried out by these Welsh authorities in the period up to 30th September 1997 notwithstanding that the work falls within an exempt activity by virtue of the Exempting Order.