According to the text published on legislation.gov.uk, the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 27 April 2026 after passing Senedd Cymru. The Act creates a statutory ban on greyhound racing in Wales, but the prohibition itself is not yet in force. For policy and compliance teams, the main point is that Wales now has enacted primary legislation setting out the offence, the enforcement regime and the latest possible start date. What remains outstanding is a commencement order by Welsh Ministers for the substantive provisions.
The offence in section 1 is drafted in two limbs. First, a person commits an offence if they are the operator of a stadium or similar venue in Wales and use it, or knowingly permit it to be used, for greyhound racing. Second, a person commits an offence if they are involved in organising greyhound racing that takes place in Wales or is intended to take place in Wales. A person convicted summarily is liable to a fine. The Act defines greyhound racing as setting greyhounds to run around a track in pursuit of a lure activated by mechanical means, and it expressly includes timing or training a greyhound as it runs around a track. That wording means the ban is not limited to formal race meetings.
The legislation also gives a broad meaning to "operator". It includes the owner of the stadium or venue, but it also reaches the person with overall responsibility for its operation. Where that person is not present in the United Kingdom, the definition shifts to the person in the United Kingdom responsible for running the venue. In practical terms, venue management arrangements will matter as much as title ownership. A business cannot assume that responsibility sits only with the freeholder or only with an events organiser if another person has overall operational responsibility for the site.
Schedule 1 extends the Act beyond individual defendants. Where an offence is committed by a company, partnership or unincorporated association, a director, manager, secretary, partner or equivalent office-holder may also commit the offence if the breach occurred with that person's consent or connivance, or was attributable to that person's neglect. The Schedule also sets out how proceedings are to be brought against partnerships and unincorporated associations. Cases are brought in the name of the partnership or association itself, with court rules applying broadly as they do for bodies corporate. For boards and senior managers, that places governance, record-keeping and delegated decision-making directly within the Act's reach.
Schedule 2 creates the enforcement regime. Inspectors may be appointed by a county council or county borough council in Wales, or by Welsh Ministers. An inspector may enter premises other than dwellings where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence under section 1 is being, has been or is about to be committed, or that evidence of such an offence may be found there. Different rules apply to premises used wholly or mainly as a dwelling. In that setting, entry requires consent or a warrant issued by a justice of the peace on sworn information in writing. The warrant conditions are specific: refusal or likely refusal after notice, risk that notice would defeat the object of entry, unoccupied premises, or temporary absence where waiting would frustrate the purpose. A warrant authorises one entry only and must be executed within 28 days.
Once lawfully on the premises, an inspector may search, question people present, require reasonable assistance, take photographs or video, require documents and records to be produced, copy material, and require electronically stored information to be produced in a legible form that can be taken away. Inspectors may also seize items they reasonably believe are evidence of an offence, but the Act expressly excludes dogs from seizure under this power. The Schedule adds procedural safeguards. Inspectors must show evidence of identity if asked and explain the purpose of the visit. Entry should take place at a reasonable hour unless that would frustrate the purpose. If entry is under warrant, copies of the warrant must be shown or left on the premises in the circumstances set out in the Act, and premises must be left as effectively secured as when found. Material subject to legal professional privilege may not be seized.
The Act also creates a separate offence for failing, without reasonable excuse, to provide assistance reasonably required by an inspector, and for intentionally obstructing a person exercising functions under the Schedule. Both are punishable on summary conviction by a fine. Inspectors, and those assisting them under supervision, are protected from civil or criminal liability for acts done in purported performance of their functions where a court is satisfied that they acted in good faith and on reasonable grounds. Commencement is central. The commencement section and the short-title section came into force on 28 April 2026, the day after Royal Assent. The remaining provisions, including the substantive ban, must be brought into force by Welsh Ministers through a Welsh statutory instrument on a date no earlier than 1 April 2027 and no later than 1 April 2030. The Act also requires Welsh Ministers to complete and publish a review within three years of section 1 taking effect, so the review period begins when the ban starts rather than on Royal Assent. As published on legislation.gov.uk, the Act may be cited in English or Welsh.