17. — (1) Every local authority shall as soon as may be after the commencement of this Act establish and maintain a register (in this Act referred to as “ the register ”) for the purposes of this Act and shall make therein all such entries and additions as may, from time to time, be prescribed.

(2) The register shall be kept at the offices of the local authority and shall be made available for inspection by any person during office hours.

(3) When a request is made to a local authority for a copy of an entry in the register, the copy shall be issued to the applicant on the payment by him to the local authority of such fee (if any) as they shall fix not exceeding the reasonable cost of making the copy.

(4) Every document purporting to be a copy of an entry in the register and purporting to be certified by an officer of a local authority to be a true copy of the entry shall, without proof of the signature of the person purporting so to certify or that he was such officer, be received in evidence in any legal proceedings and shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be a true copy of the entry and to be evidence of the terms of the entry.

(5) Evidence of an entry in the register may be given by production of a copy thereof certified pursuant to this section and it shall not be necessary to produce the register itself.