Commentary on Sections Meaning of “enforcement authorities” in this Part
52.Sections 10 to 19 of this Part confer functions relating to enforcing the provisions of this Act on enforcement authorities, or officers authorised for that purpose by enforcement authorities. The expression “enforcement authorities” is defined by section 17.
53.Section 17 identifies two enforcement authorities in relation to each area of a local housing authority in Wales. One of the two enforcement authorities for an area will be the local housing authority for the area; the other will be the licensing authority for the area.
54.“Licensing authority” in this context means the person designated as the licensing authority for the area under section 3 of Part 1 of the 2014 Act. The exercise of functions by an enforcement authority which is a licensing authority is subject to the control of the local housing authority for the area in question (for more on this see section 17(2)).
55.Depending on the nature of the arrangements made under Part 1 of the 2014 Act for designation of a licensing authority, a single licensing authority under that Part may, for the purposes of this Act, be the enforcement authority for more than one local housing authority area. At Royal Assent, Cardiff County Council was designated under section 3 of the 2014 Act as the licensing authority for the whole of Wales (and by extension, each of the local housing authority areas in Wales).