The Act Commentary on Sections Part 6: Dogs Section 58 Primary and secondary authorities
181.This section defines primary and secondary authorities. Secondary authorities are parish and community councils (in England and Wales, respectively). Subsection (3) enables other bodies to be designated as secondary authorities. This is intended to deal with bodies, such as commons conservators, which have powers under private Acts to make byelaws to control dogs. It could also be used to designate statutory bodies with responsibilities for substantial areas of land.