Commentary on Sections Inspection of records held by Accountant
95.Section 46 places the Accountant under an obligation to make certain documents relating to a factory estate available for inspection, or to provide copies of the documents, to a person with an interest in the factory estate who requests such copies or inspection. The documents are defined in subsection (4) as being the management plan, the inventory, the balance sheet, the annual accounts, and the audit report in relation to the relevant estate.
96.Subsection (1) requires the person to submit a request to the Accountant, and demonstrate a reason for requiring the copies or to inspect the documents. Subsection (2) requires the Accountant to charge the person making the request a fee for inspecting the documents or for the copies, while subsection (3) provides that any copies supplied under this section have the same evidential status as the original documents, meaning the person receiving the copies can rely on them in the same way as they could rely on the original documents, such as in court proceedings.