Auxiliary Forces Act 1953
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1953 c. 50 |
Auxiliary Forces Act , 1953
(1 & 2 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 50
An Act to consolidate certain enactments and Orders in Council relating to the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force with corrections and improvements made under the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act, 1949.
[29th October 1953]
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:—
Power to maintain the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force; and numbers and area of service thereof
1 Power to maintain, numbers and area of service.
(1) It shall be lawful for Her Majesty to maintain the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
(2) The Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force shall each consist of such number of officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men as may from time to time be provided by Parliament.
(3) Officers and men of the Territorial Army and of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force shall be liable to serve in any part of the United Kingdom or the Channel Islands, and, in so far as is hereinafter provided, elsewhere.
Administration
2 Administering associations.
(1) In this Act—
the expression ‘joint association’ means an association established for any area in the United Kingdom, being an area consisting of one or more counties, for the purposes of the organisation and administration of Her Majesty's military and air forces other than the regulars and their reserves and for such other purposes of the establishment of associations as are mentioned in this Act;
the expression ‘territorial army association’ means an association established for any such area for the like purposes in relation to Her Majesty's military forces;
the expression ‘auxiliary air force association’ means an association established for any such area for the like purposes in relation to Her Majesty's air forces.
(2) The joint associations in existence at the commencement of this Act (which were established under provision in that behalf of the enactments repealed and orders revoked by this Act, and whose areas together cover the whole of the United Kingdom) shall continue in existence, subject to the next following subsection.
(3) A joint association for any area may be terminated in any case where the Army Council and the Air Council agree.
(4) Upon the termination of a joint association the Army Council and the Air Council shall make a joint order for the winding up of the association, and the joint order shall provide for any matter incidental to or consequential on the winding up, whether as respects the transfer of property, rights and liabilities, financial adjustment or otherwise, as the Army Council and the Air Council may think necessary.
(5) An association of any of the kinds mentioned in subsection (1) of this section may be established for any such area as is mentioned in that subsection for which an association of that kind is not for the time being in existence, being in the case of an auxiliary air force association an area which in the opinion of the Air Council cannot suitably be administered through a joint association.
(6) The scheme under the next succeeding section whereby a joint association is established for any area shall provide for the winding up, as from the date of the establishment of the joint association, of any territorial army association or auxiliary air force association previously established for that area, and for any matter incidental to or consequential on the winding up, whether as respects the transfer of property, rights and liabilities, financial adjustment or otherwise, as the Army Council and the Air Council may think necessary.
3 Constitution of associations.
3. Such an association as is mentioned in the last foregoing Section shall be constituted, and the members thereof shall be appointed and hold office, in accordance with a scheme as to which the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect, being a scheme made—
4 Application to associations of sections five to nine.
4. The provisions of the five next following sections shall apply, save as otherwise therein expressly provided, to all such associations as are mentioned in section two of this Act, but with the following modifications in their application to an association other than a joint association, that is to say—
5 General duties of associations.
(1) It shall be the duty of each association to make itself acquainted with and conform to the plan of the Army Council for the organisation of all Her Majesty's military forces within the area for which the association is established and of the Air Council for the organisation of all Her Majesty's air forces within that area.
(2) It shall be the duty of each association to ascertain the military and air force resources and capabilities of the area for which the association is established and to render advice and assistance to the Army Council and the Air Council and to such officers as those Councils respectively may direct.
(3) It shall be the duty of each association to make itself acquainted with and conform to the plan of the Admiralty for the organisation within the area for which the association is established of the reserves of the Royal Navy and of the reserves of the Royal Marines in so far as that plan relates to matters with respect to which functions are conferred on the association under subsection (1) of the next following section.
6 Powers and duties assignable to associations.
(1) An association shall have, exercise and discharge such powers and duties connected with the organisation and administration of Her Majesty's military and air forces as may for the time being be transferred or assigned to it by order of Her Majesty signified under the hand of a Secretary of State or, subject thereto, by regulations under this Act, and also such powers and duties as may be transferred or assigned to it as aforesaid connected with the organisation and administration of—
(a ) the reserves of the Royal Navy and the reserves of the Royal Marines; or
(b ) the Army Cadet Force, the Air Training Corps, the Combined Cadet Force and the Sea Cadet Corps;
but an association shall not have any powers of command or training over any part of Her Majesty's forces.
(2) The powers and duties so transferred or assigned to an association may include any powers conferred on or vested in Her Majesty, and any powers or duties conferred or imposed on the Army Council or the Air Council or a Secretary of State, by statute or otherwise, and in particular respecting the following matters:—
(a ) the organisation of the units of the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and their administration (including maintenance) at all times other than when they are called out for training or actual military or air force service, or when embodied;
(b ) the recruiting for the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force both in peace and in war, and defining the limits of recruiting areas;
(c ) the provision and maintenance of rifle ranges, buildings, magazines, sites of camps, aerodromes, landing grounds and hangars for the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force;
(d ) facilitating the provision of areas to be used for manoeuvres;
(e ) arranging with employers of labour as to holidays for training, and ascertaining, after consultation with the representatives of employers in and of persons employed in the principal industries of the area for which the association is established, the times of training which having regard to those industries are best suited to the circumstances of civil life;
(f ) establishing or assisting cadet units and also rifle and aviation clubs;
(g ) the provision of mechanical transport and horses for the peace requirements of the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force;
(h ) providing accommodation for the safe custody of arms and equipment;
(i ) the supply of the requirements on mobilisation of the units of the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force within the area for which the association is established in so far as those requirements are directed by the Army Council and the Air Council respectively to be met locally;
(j ) the registration in conjunction with the military and air force authorities of vehicles, horses, stores and equipment for any of Her Majesty's...
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