Section 19: Exceptions to duty to enforce., Water Industry Act 1991

Subject to the Drinking Water (Undertakings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 neither the Secretary of State nor the Authority shall be required to make an enforcement order in relation to any person, or to confirm a provisional enforcement order so made, if he is satisfied—

that the contraventions were, or the apprehended contraventions are, of a trivial nature;

that the extent to which the person caused or contributed to, or was likely to cause or contribute to, a contravention was trivial;

that the person has given, and is complying with, an undertaking to take all such steps as it appears to him for the time being to be appropriate for the person to take for the purpose of securing or facilitating compliance with the condition or requirement in question; or

that the duties imposed on him by Part I of this Act preclude the making or, as the case may be, the confirmation of the order.

Before making an enforcement order or confirming a provisional enforcement order, the Authority shall consider whether it would be more appropriate to proceed under the Competition Act 1998.

The Authority shall not make an enforcement order or confirm a provisional enforcement order if it considers that it would be more appropriate to proceed under the Competition Act 1998.

The requirement to comply with an undertaking given for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above shall be treated as a statutory requirement enforceable under section 18 above—

by the Secretary of State; or

with the consent of or in accordance with a general authorisation given by the Secretary of State, by the Authority.

Where the Secretary of State or the Authority, having notified a person that he is considering the making in relation to the person of an enforcement order or the confirmation of a provisional enforcement order so made, is satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (a), (aa), (b) or (c) of subsection (1) above or, in the case of the Authority, has decided that it would be more appropriate to proceed under the Competition Act 1998, he shall—

serve notice that he is so satisfied or has so decided on the person;

publish in such manner as the Secretary of State or the Authority considers appropriate for the purpose of bringing the matters to which the notice relates to the attention of persons likely to be affected by them—

a copy of the notice, and

where the Secretary of State or the Authority is satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (1), a summary of the undertaking describing the steps to be taken under it; and

in a case where the Secretary of State is satisfied as mentioned in the said paragraph (b), serve a copy of the notice and of the undertaking given for the purposes of that paragraph on the Authority.

In a case where notice under subsection (3)(a) falls to be served by the Welsh Ministers, references to the Secretary of State in subsection (3)(b) are to be read as references to the Welsh Ministers.

The requirements of subsection (3) above shall not apply, in the case of any proposed order or confirmation in respect of a direction under section 208 below, to the extent that the Secretary of State directs that they should not be complied with in the interests of national security.

Section 19: Exceptions to duty to enforce.

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