134Certificate of authority for authorised officers

134 Certificate of authority for authorised officers

134 Certificate of authority for authorised officers

(1) The Health Secretary must ensure an authorised officer is issued with a certificate of authority.

(2) The certificate of authority must—

(a) specify it is issued under this Act, and

(b) give the name of the person to whom it is issued, and

(c) include a recent photograph of the person to whom it is issued, and

(d) describe the nature of the powers conferred and the source of the powers, and

(e) specify the date, if any, on which it expires, and

(f) describe the kind of premises to which the power extends, and

(g) be signed by the person issuing the certificate and specify the capacity in which the person is acting in issuing the certificate.

Note—

A certificate of authority may be issued in the form of a card.

(3) A person who has ceased to be an authorised officer must not, without reasonable excuse, fail to return to the Health Secretary, within the period specified by the Health Secretary in a request for the return of the certificate, a certificate of authority issued to the person by the Health Secretary.

Maximum penalty—Tier 5 penalty.

(4) An authorised officer must not exercise a function conferred by or under this Act unless a certificate of authority has been issued to the authorised officer.

(5) When exercising the functions of an authorised officer under this Act, the officer must, if requested to do so by a person affected by the exercise of the function, produce to the person the officer’s certificate of authority.

(6) This section does not apply to—

(a) a power conferred by a search warrant, or

(b) an authorised officer who is a police officer.