Housing (Wales) Act 2014

37Power to require documents to be produced or information given

(1)A person authorised in writing by a licensing authority may exercise the powers conferred by subsections (2) and (3) in relation to documents or information (as the case may be) reasonably required by the authority—

(a)for any purpose connected with the exercise of any of the authority’s functions under this Part, or

(b)for the purpose of investigating whether any offence has been committed under this Part.

(2)A person authorised under subsection (1) may give a notice to a relevant person requiring that person—

(a)to produce any documents which—

(i)are specified or described in the notice, or fall within a category of document which is specified or described in the notice, and

(ii)are in the person’s custody or under the person’s control, and

(b)to produce them at a time and place, and to a person, specified in the notice.

(3)A person authorised under subsection (1) may give a notice to a relevant person requiring that person—

(a)to give any information which—

(i)is specified or described in the notice, or falls within a category of information which is specified or described in the notice, and

(ii)is known to the person, and

(b)to give it in a form and manner specified in the notice.

(4)The notice under subsection (2) or (3) must include information about the possible consequences of not complying with the notice.

(5)The person to whom any document is produced in accordance with a notice under subsection (2) or (3) may copy the document.

(6)No person may be required under this section to produce any document or give any information which the person would be entitled to refuse to provide in proceedings in the High Court on grounds of legal professional privilege.

(7)In this section “document” includes information recorded otherwise than in legible form, and in relation to information so recorded, any reference to the production of a document is a reference to the production of a copy of the information in legible form.

(8)In this section “relevant person” means a person within any of the following paragraphs—

(a)a person who applies for a licence under this Part or who is the holder of a licence under this Part;

(b)a person who has an estate or interest in rental property;

(c)a person who is, or is proposing to be, involved in the letting or management of a rental property;

(d)a person who occupies a rental property.