This Act may be cited as the Auckland Regional Authority Act 1963.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(2) Where for the purposes of this Act it is necessary to ascertain or calculate the rateable capital value or population of any area, such value or population, as the case may be, shall, upon receipt of a written request from the Authority, be ascertained or calculated by the Valuer-General, or the Government Statistician, as the case may be, as at a date or dates as near as reasonably practicable to the date of the receipt of the request.

(3) In any case where public notice has to be given of a document, a public notice setting forth the object, purpose, or general effect of the document shall in any case be sufficient notice of that document.

(1) The Authority may from time to time make such bylaws as it thinks fit for all or any of the following purposes:

• (a) the more effectual carrying out of any of the objects of this Act:

• (b) regulating or controlling any of the subject-matters of this Act:

• (ba) prohibiting any act, matter, or thing in relation to any subject matter concerning which the Authority is empowered by this or any other Act to make bylaws:

• (c) protecting from damage, injury, or misappropriation, any property, whether real or personal, belonging to the Authority or controlled by it, and whether situate within or beyond the district:

• (d) any purpose for which the Authority is, by virtue of the provisions of any Act, authorised to make bylaws.

(2) Every person who commits a breach of, or who (by virtue of section 86 of the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Act 1960) is guilty of an offence under, any trade wastes bylaws made by the Authority under section 83 of that Act shall be liable to the penalties set out in section 493 of the Local Government Act 1974.

(3) Every person who commits a breach of any other bylaw made by the Authority under this or any other Act shall be liable, in any case for which no penalty is provided elsewhere than in this subsection, to the penalties set out in section 683(1) of the Local Government Act 1974.

(4) Where a person commits a continuing breach of any bylaw made by the Authority, then, notwithstanding anything in any other Act, a District Court may, on application by the Authority, grant an injunction restraining the further continuance of the breach by that person.

(5) An injunction may be granted under subsection (4)—

• (a) notwithstanding that proceedings for the offence constituted by the breach have not been taken; or

• (b) where the person is convicted of such an offence, either—

  • (i) in the proceedings for the offence, in substitution for or in addition to any penalty awarded for the offence; or

  • (ii) in subsequent proceedings.

(6) The continued existence of any work or thing in a state, or the intermittent repetition of any action, contrary to any bylaw shall be deemed to be a continuing breach for the purposes of this section.

(1) Bylaws of the Authority shall be made only in the manner and subject to the conditions following:

• (a) they shall be made only by special order:

  provided that in publicly notifying the resolution making the order it shall not be necessary to set forth the whole of the proposed bylaw if the object or purpose of the bylaw is stated and if a copy of the proposed bylaw is deposited at the offices of the Authority or at some other place in the district which shall be specified in the notification and is open to the inspection of the public during office hours for at least 7 days immediately preceding the meeting at which the resolution is to be confirmed:

• (b) [Repealed]

• (c) they may be amended before confirmation of the special order making the same:

• (d) they shall have the common seal of the Authority attached thereto:

• (e) they shall come into force on a day to be fixed at the meeting last aforesaid, which day shall not be earlier than 7 clear days after the date of the meeting:

• (f) any bylaw made by the Authority shall override any bylaws on the same subject made by any local authority.

(2) Any bylaw may in like manner be altered or revoked.

The Authority may enter into any contract for any of the purposes of this Act.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to the provisions of Part 7 of the Transport Act 1962, the Authority shall have within the district the right to undertake and operate the regional services authorised by this Act and any new regional services that may be required in the district. That right, except in the case of any road transport or harbour ferry service to which the provisions of the said Part 7 apply, shall be a sole and exclusive one in favour of the Authority alone.

(2) The Authority, and any public body providing any regional service within the district, may enter into and carry out agreements for the purpose of ensuring or facilitating cooperation between them; any such agreement may provide for such control by, or cooperation with, the Authority, of the planning and policy of the public body in the conduct of its undertaking, and in the provision of finance for capital works as may be so agreed on.

(3) The Authority may purchase from any local authority within the district any debentures or stock issued by such local authority in respect of the whole or part of a special loan which it is authorised to raise.

(4) For the purposes of the exercise of its powers and functions and the performance of its duties and obligations under this Act in respect of the undertaking and operation of any regional service the Authority shall be deemed to be a local authority under the Health Act 1956; and, subject to the express provisions of this Act and the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Act 1960, the provisions of the Health Act 1956 shall for those purposes extend and apply accordingly.

(5) The Authority may prepare and publish handbooks, abstracts, or other publications containing information and matters of interest relative to the history, administration, and affairs of the Authority or the district, purchase publications containing photographic views of the district, and prepare and disseminate information that is designed to educate and instruct the public concerning local government activities in the district or that has for its object the advancement or development of the district.

(6) The Authority may make grants of money to the trustees or other governing authority of any body (whether incorporated or not) which is not conducted for private profit and the object or principal object of which is to promote the advancement or development of the district or of any area or areas whose advancement or development would or might tend to benefit the district, or to educate or instruct the public concerning the activities of the district or of any such area or areas.

(7) All money expended in pursuance of subsection (5) or subsection (6) shall, if the expenditure relates exclusively to any particular undertaking, service, or activity, be charged to the account referred to in subsection (2) of section 61 which relates to such undertaking, service, or activity but, if the expenditure does not so relate, shall be charged to the account referred to in paragraph (j) of that subsection.

(1) On a date to be arranged between the Authority and the Auckland City Council, but, if so required by the Authority, not later than 3 months after the first meeting of the Authority (in this section referred to as the agreed date), the Authority shall take over as a going concern the bulk water-supply undertaking of the said City Council with all its assets and liabilities with the benefit and subject to the obligations of all contracts made by the said City Council in relation to the said undertaking, including contracts for the sale of bulk water to local authorities and contracts of employment.

(2) The Authority shall indemnify the said City Council in respect of all its liabilities in connection with the said undertaking, and shall if so required by it issue and give to the City Council debentures or stock properly secured for the total amount of the special loan indebtedness of the City Council in relation to the said undertaking, such debentures or stock to be identical in their terms with the respective series of debentures or stock issued by the City Council and then subsisting in respect of the said undertaking so that the City Council shall be entitled to receive from the Authority, by virtue of the said debentures or stock, all principal, interest, and other moneys which it is liable to pay in connection with its said loan indebtedness, at the times, and in the manner, at and in which the City Council is liable to pay the same respectively.

(3) Should there be any dispute between the Authority and the City Council as to—

• (a) what are assets or liabilities of the City Council in relation to the said undertaking:

• (b) the method of adjustment of accounts as at the date of transfer:

• (c) whether the City Council shall continue to administer the said undertaking on behalf of the Authority for a period after the agreed date and if so for what period and on what terms:

• (d) the terms upon which the City Council is to receive bulk water supply from the Authority:

• (e) what costs (if any) incurred by the City Council in installing meters or altering its reticulation in any way that may be rendered necessary by the transfer of the undertaking should be borne by the Authority,—

then such dispute shall be referred to the Local Government Commission for determination. The said Commission shall hear and determine any such dispute, and its decision thereon shall be final.

(4) No compensation shall be payable by the Authority to the City Council or to any other local authority on account of the transfer of the said undertaking to the Authority.

(5) No stamp duty shall be payable on any transfer or other document executed for the purpose of vesting in the Authority the whole or any part of the assets of the said undertaking, and on the production of a statutory declaration by the secretary of the Authority purporting to set out or to exhibit a copy of the agreement of the Authority and the City Council, or a copy of the determination of the Local Government Commission, as the case may be, as to what lands of the City Council are to be vested in the Authority pursuant to the provisions of this section, together with such plans and documents as the appropriate District Land Registrar may require, an entry of the title of the Authority to the lands described in such agreement or determination of the Local Government Commission, as the case may be, shall be made by the appropriate District Land Registrar on the relevant certificates of title or other instrument of title.

(6) All costs and expenses of the said transfer shall be borne and paid by the Authority.

(7) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Authority, on taking over the bulk water-supply undertaking of the City Council, shall have and may exercise all the powers in relation to waterworks conferred on borough councils by the Local Government Act 1974, or by any other Act, so far as the same relate to waterworks or to bulk water-supply, as if the Authority were a borough council and the regional district a borough, and the provisions of the Local Government Act 1974 and of any other relevant Act as aforesaid, shall, with the necessary modifications, extend and apply accordingly:

provided also that the Authority shall not commence to supply water direct to any new consumer (other than a local authority) without the prior consent of the local authority in whose local district the said supply is to be given.

(7A) Where any land the fee simple of which is vested in the Authority and which is used for the purposes of its waterworks or bulk water supply undertaking is situated in the district of a local authority where the system of rating on the capital value or on the annual value is in force in respect of any rate to which the land is liable, the amount of rates payable by the Authority in respect of that land shall be equal to the amount that would be payable if the system of rating on the unimproved value were in force in respect of all rates made and levied by that local authority.

(7B) Any waterworks or bulk water supply undertaking the property of the Authority which are situated on any land that is not vested in the Authority in fee simple shall be deemed not to be rateable property for the purposes of the Rating Act 1967.

(8) [Repealed]

(9) The existing staff regulations of the City Council shall be deemed to have been adopted by the Authority as the staff regulations for the Waterworks Committee or Division of the Authority, and shall be in force during the first term of the Authority and thereafter pending any general coordination of conditions of employment by the Authority.

(1) The Authority shall, on a date to be arranged between the Authority and the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board, but if so required by the Authority not later than 3 months from the date of the first meeting of the Authority (in this section referred to as the agreed date), take over as a going concern the undertaking, assets, and liabilities of the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board constituted under the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Act 1960, with all lands, buildings, plant, and other assets vested in or controlled by the said Board, subject to all charges, encumbrances, estates, and interests affecting the same, and with the benefit and subject to the burden of all contracts and obligations of the said Board.

(2) As from the agreed date the said undertaking is hereby vested absolutely in the Authority, and on the production of a statutory declaration by the secretary of the Authority that any land of the said Board has become vested in the Authority, together with such plans and documents as the appropriate District Land Registrar may require, an entry of the title of the Authority to the land shall be made by the appropriate District Land Registrar on the relevant certificates of title.

(3) All debentures and other securities issued or executed by the said Board shall be deemed to have been issued or executed by the Authority, and the provisions of this Act shall, with the necessary modifications and subject to the express provisions thereof, apply to those debentures and securities as if they had been issued or executed by the Authority under this Act, and the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board Sinking Fund Commissioners and the Authority shall respectively have the same rights, powers, and obligations as if the Commissioners had been appointed by the Authority.

(4) Upon taking over the said undertaking the Authority shall be entitled to exercise all the powers, authorities, and discretions vested in the said Board, and shall be subject to all the duties, obligations, and limitations imposed on the said Board by the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Act 1960; and the provisions of that Act, whether as to the constitution and alteration of the drainage district and the inner and outer areas thereof, the relative rights and obligations of the local authorities within those areas, the assessment and making of levies upon local authorities in manner prescribed by that Act, or otherwise, shall with the necessary modifications continue to apply to the said undertaking and to the Authority in its conduct thereof as if the Authority in respect of its drainage undertaking were the Board.

(5) [Repealed]

(6) The existing staff regulations of the said Board shall be deemed to have been adopted by the Authority as the staff regulations of the Authority for the main Drainage Committee or Division of the Authority, and shall be in force during the first term of the Authority and thereafter pending any general coordination of conditions of employment by the Authority.

(7) [Repealed]

(8) Any difference or dispute or matter needing to be agreed on and arising out of the transfer of the said undertaking to the Authority shall be determined by the Local Government Commission on the application in that behalf of the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board and the Authority or either of them.

(9) Sections 9 to 24 of the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Act 1960 are hereby repealed on the agreed date.

(10) All matters and proceedings commenced under the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Act 1960 and pending or in progress on the taking over of the said undertaking may be continued by or against the Authority and enforced under this Act.

(1) The Authority shall take over as going concerns and assume the functions, assets, and liabilities of the bodies mentioned in this section (in this section referred to as transferring bodies).

(2) The transfer shall take place in each case on a date to be arranged between the Authority and each transferring body (in this section referred to as the agreed date) but the agreed date shall not, if so required by the Authority, be later than 3 months after the first meeting of the Authority, and the transfer shall take effect as from 1 April preceding the agreed date, from which former date the transferring body shall be deemed to have been carrying on its undertaking for and on behalf of the Authority.

(3) As from the agreed date each transferring body shall cease to exist and its undertaking is hereby vested absolutely in the Authority, with all lands, buildings, plant, and other assets vested in or controlled by such transferring body, subject to all charges, encumbrances, estates, and interests affecting the same, and with the benefit, and subject to the burden, of all contracts and obligations of such transferring body, including contracts of employment and loan indebtedness. On the production of a statutory declaration by the secretary of the Authority that any land of a transferring body has become vested in the Authority under this Act, together with such plans and other documents as the appropriate District Land Registrar may require, an entry of the title of the Authority shall be made by the appropriate District Land Registrar on the relevant certificates of title.

(4) All debentures and other securities issued or executed by any transferring body shall be deemed to have been issued or executed by the Authority under this Act, and the Sinking Fund Commissioners appointed by any transferring body shall be deemed to have been appointed by the Authority.

(5) As from the agreed date the Authority shall be entitled to exercise all powers, authorities, and discretions vested in or exercisable by any transferring body by virtue of any Acts or other documents, and the provisions thereof (except the provisions of subsection (2) of section 21 of the Milk Act 1944) shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, and with the necessary modifications, continue to apply to the undertaking of such transferring body, and to the Authority in its conduct thereof.

(6) [Repealed]

(7) The Authority shall take over and continue the employment of all members of the staff of each transferring body, and no person shall have his or her employment terminated or salary reduced by reason only of the formation of the Authority or of the transfer to it of any such undertaking.

(8) The existing staff regulations of any transferring body shall be deemed to have been adopted as the staff regulations of the Authority for the undertaking taken over from that transferring body, and shall be in force during the first term of the Authority and thereafter pending any general coordination of conditions of employment by the Authority.

(9) The bodies to which this section applies are—

the Auckland Transport Board:

the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Board.

(10) For the purpose of stimulating or developing the traffic or patronage of any public passenger transport service which the Authority operates or proposes to operate, the Authority may conduct such promotional campaigns and activities as it may from time to time think fit, subject to the provisions of any enactment applying to any such campaign or activity.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of Part 7 of the Transport Act 1962, the Authority shall have, and shall be deemed always to have had, the power to purchase, acquire, hold, and dispose of the shares and other rights in any company within the meaning of the Companies Act 1955 carrying on or providing a passenger service within the district or any part thereof or partly within and partly without the district and, while the Authority holds such shares or rights, the following provisions of this subsection shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Act or rule of law, apply and shall be deemed always to have applied:

• (a) in the case of a private company 1 share, and in the case of a company which is not a private company 6 shares, shall be held in trust for the Authority, by officers of the Authority nominated by it, on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, and all remaining shares in the capital of such company shall be held by the Authority in its own name:

• (b) the memorandum of association of any such company shall be deemed to authorise the company to do such things as the Authority may do in connection with passenger services whether pursuant to the provisions of this Act or of the Auckland Transport Board Act 1928 or of any other Act, to dispose of any real or personal property, to pay dividends to the Authority (which dividends shall be included in the accounts referred to in paragraph (i)), and to do such other things as are authorised by this section, but not to carry on any other business, undertaking, or activity, whatsoever:

  provided that if anything done by the company would, if done by the Authority, be subject to an objection or appeal under this or any other Act, the same rights of objection or appeal may be exercised in all respects as if that thing had been done by the Authority:

• (c) the Authority may exercise all the rights, powers, and remedies vested in shareholders by the Companies Act 1955 or by the memorandum of association or the articles of association of any such company for the purpose of conducting the business and affairs of the company in accordance with and subject to the provisions of this section and of disposing of such shares or rights and of winding up such company, but not for any other purpose:

• (d) only elected members of the Authority shall be capable of being appointed as and remaining directors of any such company, and for all purposes the Board of Directors shall be deemed to be a committee of the Authority and each meeting of directors shall be deemed to be a meeting of such a committee:

• (e) the Authority shall have, and shall be deemed always to have had, the power to borrow money as authorised by section 56 for the purpose of acquiring or taking up any such shares or rights or paying any calls or other payments on or in respect of any such shares or rights, or of making loans or other payments, and the costs of raising, and the incidental costs of, such loan and the interest payments and principal repayments in respect thereof shall be included in the accounts referred to in paragraph (i):

• (f) no such company shall be empowered to borrow money otherwise than from the Authority as herein provided, but nothing in this Act shall affect any borrowing lawfully made or done by the company before the specified date which shall be the date of the commencement of this section or the date on which the Authority purchases or acquires such shares or rights, whichever is the later:

• (g) the Authority may advance to any such company, out of money held or lawfully borrowed by the Authority, such sum or sums as the Authority may from time to time consider necessary or expedient for the conduct of the business of the company under this section or for the due and proper winding up of the company or disposal of the assets of the company; and such advances shall be included in the accounts referred to in paragraph (i):

• (h) for the purposes of calculating the amounts which the Authority may from time to time lawfully borrow, but for no other purpose, the income and expenditure and the estimated income and expenditure of every such company may be taken into account as if it were the income and expenditure of the Authority:

• (i) the value of any subsidy or other assistance given by the Authority to any such company pursuant to the Auckland Transport Board Act 1928 or the Auckland Transport Board Empowering Act 1934 shall be included in the accounts kept by the Authority in respect of its passenger services pursuant to section 61, and all sums of money included in such accounts pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be taken into account in the estimate required by section 58:

• (j) notwithstanding anything in the Companies Act 1955, the accounts of every such company shall be audited by the Auditor-General, which for that purpose shall have and may exercise all such powers as it has under the Public Audit Act 2001 in respect of public money and public stores and the audit of local authorities’ accounts; and sections 46 to 52 shall apply to every such company as if references in those sections to the Authority were references to the company.

(2) Except as is expressly provided in subsection (1), nothing in that subsection shall authorise—

• (a) any company to which that subsection applies to do anything which the Authority is not authorised to do; or

• (b) the Authority to do anything as a shareholder, except for the purpose of winding up the company, which it would not otherwise be entitled to do.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), the Authority shall take all such steps as may be necessary to ensure that every company to which this section applies is wound up within 6 months after the commencement of this section or within 1 year after the date on which the Authority acquired the shares in the company, whichever is the later, or within such longer period as the Minister of Local Government may in any case allow.

(1) On any land or part thereof vested in or controlled by the Authority (other than land subject to the Reserves Act 1977 but including land vested in the Authority under that Act in trust for aerodrome purposes) the Authority may—

• (a) make provision for the establishment, culture, growth, protection, maintenance, management, and utilisation of forests and for purposes incidental thereto, and sell or otherwise dispose of any forest produce at such prices or at such rates and subject to such conditions as may be determined by the Authority:

• (b) plant and tend shrubs and other plants and expend money in any manner for encouraging such planting:

• (c) run and manage cattle and other livestock and grow and sell crops:

  provided that such powers shall be exercised only if the Authority or a committee thereof considers it desirable so to do for the purpose of keeping the land in good heart or otherwise in the interests of good husbandry, or for the purpose of establishing or preserving a rural character or atmosphere on and in the vicinity of the land.

(2) The exercise of the powers conferred on the Authority by this section shall for all purposes be deemed to form part of the Authority’s powers and functions in relation to the particular undertaking, service, or activity of the Authority in connection with which the land concerned in each case is vested in or controlled by the Authority; and the income and expenditure in connection with the exercise of the powers conferred by this section shall be brought into account accordingly.

(1) This section applies to every refuse disposal landfill operated by the Authority and intended, on completion of the landfill, to be used principally for public recreation purposes.

(2) The Authority may contribute towards the development of any landfill to which this section applies.

(3) The Authority may at any time enter into an agreement with the local authority in whose district any landfill to which this section applies is situated and, if appropriate, with any other person having a direct proprietary interest in the landfill site, which provides—

• (a) subject to any other Act, for the nature of final development of the landfill for public recreation purposes; and

• (b) for the nature and value of the Authority’s contribution to that development.

(4) Any agreement entered into under subsection (3) may provide for the contributions of the Authority to be made or paid—

• (a) progressively during the course of landfill operations; or

• (b) on or at any time after completion of landfill operations; or

• (c) both.

(5) For the purpose of providing funds to enable it to make contributions under this section, the Authority may charge to its refuse disposal account such sums as it thinks fit.

(1) The Authority shall be deemed to be a local authority for the purposes of the National Provident Fund Act 1950 (as continued in certain respects by the National Provident Fund Restructuring Act 1990), and section 6 of the Finance Act (No 2) 1941.

(2) The Authority may from time to time pay by way of subsidy such sums as it thinks fit to the funds of the sick, death, or funeral benefit society, or other like institution established by its employees or any section of them, the benefits of which are confined to its present employees and former employees and their dependants.

(3) For the purposes of section 6 of the Finance Act (No 2) 1941 in its application to the Authority, any person, firm, company, or other body corporate, or government department, whose functions or any of whose functions have been transferred to or taken over by the Authority shall be deemed to be a local authority which is the predecessor of the Authority.

(1) The Authority may from time to time borrow by way of special loan such sums as are necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) Special loans may be raised by the Authority under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 and, notwithstanding anything in section 34 of that Act, without the prior consent of the ratepayers.

(3) A copy of the special order of the Authority authorising the raising of a special loan purporting to be sealed with the seal of the Authority shall be published in the Gazette and 3 times in a daily newspaper or daily newspapers circulating in the district, and shall be conclusive evidence that all proceedings and things under this Act in relation thereto and in the making of such special order have been lawfully taken and done.

(4) [Repealed]

(1) Notwithstanding anything in section 56 or in the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 or in any other Act, the Authority may accept money on deposit in accordance with this section in such minimum amounts and for such minimum terms as it may from time to time determine.

(2) All money accepted by the Authority under this section shall—

• (a) be separately recorded; and

• (b) be deposited with any registered bank within the meaning of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989.

(3) The Authority may pay interest on money accepted by it under this section at a rate not exceeding 0.5% per annum less than the rate for the time being payable to the Authority on the deposits made by the Authority in respect of that money.

(4) Deposits accepted by the Authority under this section shall be deemed to be securities of the Authority for the purposes of section 56(4).

(5) Deposits accepted by the Authority under this section shall be deemed to be loans raised by the Authority for the purposes of section 57(1).

(1) Every loan raised or deemed to have been raised by the Authority, whether before or after the commencement of this section, shall be, and to the extent of the money not yet repaid shall be deemed always to have been, secured by the Authority—

• (a) appropriating and pledging as security therefor that portion of the contributions of each contributing authority, from time to time paid or payable, which relates to the loan by reason of being included in the estimates from time to time prepared in accordance with section 58 as permanent appropriations for payment of interest and the creation of a sinking fund or for periodical repayments on account of the loan; and

• (b) pledging as security therefor, subject to the provisions of section 46 and the proviso to paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 45 of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, all other revenues received or receivable by the Authority in respect of the undertaking, service, or activity for which the loan was raised or deemed to have been raised which the Authority may legally pledge as security for the loan.

(2) Any debenture or other security given, issued, or executed or deemed to have been given, issued, or executed by the Authority to secure any loan or loans raised or deemed to have been raised by the Authority before the commencement of this section shall continue in full force and effect as if this section had not been passed, but the holders of any such debenture or other security shall not exercise any of their rights or remedies thereunder unless or until they shall first have exhausted their rights and remedies under the security conferred by subsection (1).

(3) For the purposes of this section the Authority shall be deemed to have raised every loan secured by any debenture or other security which, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, it is deemed to have issued or executed.

At any time before or after the day appointed for the holding of any meeting of the Authority or for the doing of any act, matter, or thing by this Act required to be done on or before a day certain, it shall be lawful for the Governor-General to extend the time allowed or to fix a later day for the holding of such meeting or for the doing of any such act, matter, or thing as aforesaid, notwithstanding the day may have passed on which the same ought to have been held or done, and to adopt or cause to be adopted such measures as may be necessary to remove any obstacle of a technical or formal nature by which the carrying out of the provisions of this Act may be impeded, and to supply any deficiency which may be required to be supplied in order to enable the said provisions to be carried out.