Industry Act 1972
Industry Act 1972
1972 CHAPTER 63
An Act to authorise grants towards expenditure on the provision of assets for industry in certain regions in Great Britain, to authorise the provision of financial assistance for industry in those regions or elsewhere, and provisions about credits and grants for the building of ships and of offshore installations, to amend the Local Employment Act 1972 and to make temporary provision as to one of the areas to be treated as a development area under that Act; and for connected purposes.
[9th August 1972]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
Regional Development Grants
1 Grants for buildings, machinery, plant and certain works.
(1) The Secretary of State may make a grant to a person towards approved capital expenditure incurred by that person, being expenditure of any description in column 1 of the Table below.
(2) The amount of a grant under this section shall be the prescribed percentage of the expenditure in respect of which it is made.
(3) Subject to any order under section 3 of this Act, the prescribed percentage shall be that specified in column 2 of the Table below.
Table
| Expenditure incurred in | Prescribed percentage |
1. Providing a building as part of, or providing works on, qualifying premises in— |
|
(a ) a development area |
If the qualifying premises are in a special development area: 22 per cent. If not: 20 per cent. |
(b ) an intermediate area |
20 per cent. |
(c ) in the case of a building or any works provided before 22nd March 1974, a derelict land clearance area. |
20 per cent. |
|
2. (1) Providing new machinery or plant for use in qualifying premises in a development area. (2) Providing mining works for use in a development area. |
If the qualifying premises or mining works are in a special development area: 22 per cent. If not: 20 per cent. |
3. Providing new machinery or plant for use in a development area in activities which are within Order XX of the Standard Industrial Classification (construction industry). |
20 per cent. |
(4) For the purposes of this section the Secretary of State may by order designate a development area or any part of it as a special development area, and, in exercising his powers under this subsection, the Secretary of State shall have regard to all the circumstances actual and expected, including the state of employment and unemployment, population changes, migration and the objectives of regional policies.
(5) An order under this section may describe a special development area by reference to employment exchange areas, that is to say areas for which an employment exchange has been established for the purposes of the Employment and Training Act 1948 ; and any reference in such an order to a named employment exchange area shall be construed as a reference to that area as it exists on the date on which the order comes into force.
(6) Subject to the provisions of paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to this Act, grants may be made under this Part of this Act in respect of expenditure defrayed on or after 22nd March 1972, and the power conferred by subsection (4) above shall include power to specify special development areas for the purpose of grant payable in accordance with this Part of this Act in respect of assets provided before the passing of this Act (and before the making of the order).
2 Qualifying premises.
(1) In this Part of this Act ‘qualifying premises’ means premises which are for the time being used wholly or mainly for qualifying activities.
(2) For the purposes of this section ‘qualifying activities’ means—
(a ) activities which are described in any of the minimum list headings in Orders II to XX (inclusive) in the Standard Industrial Classification (manufacturing, mining and construction), and
(b ) the processing of scrap and waste materials, and
(c ) scientific research relating to any other qualifying activity, and
(d ) the repair or maintenance of any machinery or plant designed for use in any manufacturing or mining process, or in the processing of scrap and waste materials, or in any activity described in heading 500 of the Standard Industrial Classification (construction of buildings, roads and bridges), and
(e ) repairs of the kinds described in heading 370 (shipbuilding and marine engineering), 383 (aerospace equipment manufacturing and repairing), 384 and 385 (locomotives, rolling stock and railway equipment) and 500 (buildings, roads and bridges) in the Standard Industrial Classification, whether or not also within paragraph (d ) above, together with the maintenance of anything the repair of which is included in this paragraph, and
(f ) the training of staff for work in any other qualifying activity.
(3) The Standard Industrial Classification shall be used for the purposes of this section, and of any other provision of this Act, without taking account of the way in which that Classification is applied, whether or not in pursuance of any other Act of Parliament, for any other purpose, and without regard to any ancillary or associated activities, such as—
(a ) office work, including accountancy, audit, advertising and market research,
(b ) haulage,
(c ) sales and distribution.
(d ) storage,
(e ) production and distribution of energy and heating,
which, though not mentioned in a particular minimum list heading, may be classified for statistical purposes along with the activities which are so mentioned; and the reference in heading 499(2) of the Standard Industrial Classification to ‘all other manufacturing industries not elsewhere specified’ shall be taken as a reference to all manufacturing activities not elsewhere specified without the remaining activities in the industry in question.
(4) Subject to paragraphs (d ) and (e ) of subsection (2) above, the repair or maintenance of any articles shall not be a qualifying activity, and in the case of the activities described in the said Classification, other than those mentioned in the said paragraph (e ), this subsection applies whether or not repair or maintenance is mentioned in the Classification.
(5) The Secretary of State may give directions, which may be general directions or directions concerning a particular case, as respects the determination of—
(a ) any question as to the classification of an asset as between the following categories, that is, machinery or plant, buildings, works other than mining works, and mining works,
(b ) any question whether two or more different buildings or areas are, or are not, to be regarded as forming part of the same premises,
(c ) any question whether different parts of a building are, or are not, to be regarded as forming part of the same premises, and any question as to the apportionment of the expenditure incurred in providing a building between the parts of the building which are, and are not, qualifying premises, or
(d ) any question whether premises are being used, or used wholly or mainly, for any qualifying activities, or other specified activities.
(6) If, on a request by an applicant for grant, the applicant satisfies the Secretary of State that any land or building is near to and held together with premises which are being used for qualifying activities, he may direct that the land or building shall be treated as forming part of those premises.
(7) Where premises are partly in, and partly outside, an assisted area, they shall be regarded for the purposes of this Part of this Act as in an assisted area—
(a ) if the larger part of the premises is in an assisted area, or if the qualifying activities there carried on are mainly carried on in an assisted area, or
(b ) if the Secretary of State so directs in any case or class of case,
and corresponding provisions shall be applied as respects premises which are partly in one category of assisted area, and partly in another, and as respects mining works for use partly in a development area and partly elsewhere.
(8) For the purposes of this Part of this Act an asset is provided as part of, or on, or for use in, qualifying premises if in the opinion of the Secretary of State the premises are or will be qualifying premises when the asset is provided.
3 Variation of rates of grant and qualifying activities.
(1) The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, by order vary all or any of the percentages specified in the Table in section 1 of this Act.
(2) The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, by order—
(a ) add to, exclude or vary all or any of the descriptions of qualifying activities in the last preceding section, or vary the description of activities in head 3 of the Table in section 1 of this Act, or
(b ) amend the definition of the Standard Industrial Classification in this Part of this Act by the substitution for the reference to the edition of that publication there specified of a reference to any later edition thereof, or by providing for any such reference to include a reference to any specified list of amendments to the edition in question published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
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