According to the enacted text published on legislation.gov.uk, the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 27 April 2026 and sets up a statutory ban on greyhound racing in Wales. The Act is concise, but it does more than state a prohibition: it creates criminal offences, assigns enforcement powers, fixes a commencement window and requires a formal review after implementation. For readers tracking devolved legislation, the practical point is that Senedd Cymru has now created the legal framework for a ban, but the main operative provisions are not automatic. Welsh Ministers must bring them into force by statutory instrument within a defined period.
The main offence 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. The definition of greyhound racing is also wider than a single public event. In the Act, published by legislation.gov.uk, it means setting greyhounds to run around a track in pursuit of a mechanically activated lure, and that expressly includes timing or training a greyhound as it runs around a track. That drafting matters because it limits the scope for a venue or organiser to argue that an activity was only training rather than racing. A person convicted of the offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine.
The Act defines an operator broadly. It includes the owner of a stadium or similar venue, but it also reaches the person with overall responsibility for operating the venue. Where that person is not present in the United Kingdom, the definition shifts to the person in the United Kingdom responsible for the operation of the venue. Schedule 1 is intended to stop liability ending with the organisation itself. Where a body corporate, partnership or unincorporated association commits an offence, a director, manager, secretary, similar officer, partner or governing body member may also commit the offence if the breach took place with that person's consent or connivance, or because of that person's neglect. Proceedings against a partnership or unincorporated association are to be brought in the name of the organisation rather than in the names of individual members, which gives prosecutors a workable route for enforcement while preserving a route to individual accountability where the statutory test is met.
Enforcement powers are set out in Schedule 2. Inspectors may be appointed either by a county council or county borough council in Wales, or by the Welsh Ministers. That gives the regime a dual enforcement base, combining local authority capacity with ministerial appointment powers. An inspector may enter premises if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence under section 1 is being, has been or is about to be committed there, or that evidence of such an offence may be found there. The Act states that premises include a vehicle, which broadens the reach of the regime beyond fixed venues. Premises used wholly or mainly as a dwelling are treated differently, and cannot be entered under this basic power.
Where premises are used wholly or mainly as a dwelling, entry requires consent or a warrant issued by a justice of the peace. The warrant test is detailed. The justice must be satisfied on sworn information in writing that there are reasonable grounds for suspicion and that at least one further condition is met, including refusal of entry, likely refusal, risk of defeating the object of entry, unoccupied premises, or temporary absence of the occupier. The warrant may be used only once and must be executed within 28 days. The Act also builds in procedural safeguards. Inspectors must, if asked, show evidence of identity and explain the purpose of entry. Where entry is under warrant, they must show a copy if asked and provide one to the occupier or person appearing to be in charge. If nobody is present, a copy must be left in a prominent place and the premises must be left as effectively secured as before. Entry must normally take place at a reasonable hour unless that would frustrate the purpose of the visit.
Once lawfully on the premises, inspectors have a broad evidence-gathering power. They may search the premises, question people there, require reasonable assistance, take photographs or video recordings, require documents or records to be produced, copy them, and require electronically stored information to be produced in a visible and legible form. They may also seize any item, other than a dog, that they reasonably believe to be evidence of an offence. That last point is important. The legislation allows seizure of evidence, but it explicitly excludes dogs from the seizure power. It also protects material subject to legal professional privilege. A person commits a further offence if, without reasonable excuse, they fail to comply with a requirement for assistance, or if they intentionally obstruct a person exercising functions under the Schedule. Those offences are also punishable on summary conviction by a fine. Inspectors, and those brought onto premises under an inspector's supervision, are protected from civil or criminal liability where a court is satisfied that they acted in good faith and on reasonable grounds.
The commencement clause means the legislation has been enacted, but the ban itself is still awaiting activation. The commencement section and the citation section came into force on the day after Royal Assent. The remaining provisions must be brought into force by Welsh Ministers through a Welsh statutory instrument on a date no sooner than 1 April 2027 and no later than 1 April 2030. The Act also requires Welsh Ministers to review its operation, effect and compliance, and to publish a report on that review within three years of section 1 coming into force. In practice, that gives Wales a staged model: enactment first, implementation by ministerial order within a fixed window, then a statutory review once the regime has had time to operate. The Act may be cited in English as the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Act 2026 or in Welsh as Deddf Gwahardd Rasio Milgwn (Cymru) 2026.