Coal Industry Act 1949
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1949 c. 53 |
Coal Industry Act , 1949
(12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6) CHAPTER 53
An Act to alter the composition of the National Coal Board, extend the area within which their activities may be carried on, empower them to terminate certain long-term contracts and provide for the enforcement against them of certain workmen's compensation liabilities; to amend sections thirty-seven and sixty-four of the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act, 1946, and authorise the making of certain payments in connection with the settlement of disputes arising under regulations made under the said section thirty-seven and to repeal the provisions of that Act imposing restrictions on the disposal of government stock issued for compensation to companies; to extend the power of the Minister of Fuel and Power to make general regulations under section eighty-six of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, and otherwise to amend that section; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[30th July 1949]
Be it enacted by the King'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
Amendments of Coal Industry Nationalisation Act, 1946
1 Alteration of composition of National Coal Board.
(1) The number of members of the National Coal Board (in this Part of this Act referred to as ‘the Board’) apart from the chairman of the Board shall, instead of being eight, be not less than eight nor more than eleven, and accordingly, in subsection (2) of section two of the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act, 1946 (in this Part of this Act referred to as ‘the principal Act’), for the words ‘eight other members’ there shall be substituted the words ‘not less than eight nor more than eleven other members’.
(2) The persons from amongst whom the members of the Board are by subsection (3) of section two of the principal Act required to be appointed shall include persons appearing to the Minister to be qualified as having had experience of, and having shown capacity in, the coal-mining industry.
(3) The number of members of the Board, apart from the chairman thereof, required to render whole-time service to the Board shall not exceed eight.
(4) The Minister may appoint one of the members of the Board to act as deputy chairman thereof in addition to the member appointed by him under subsection (5) of section two of the principal Act so to act.
2 Extension of area within which the Board's activities may be carried on.
(1) Section one of the principal Act (under which the Board are established and their functions defined) shall not be limited by subsection (3) of section sixty-three of that Act (which provides that references in that Act to activities of any kind, whether or not described by that word, are to be construed as limited to activities of that kind carried on in Great Britain), and references to the activities of the Board in subsection (4) of section three of that Act (which requires the Board to afford to the Minister of Fuel and Power facilities for obtaining information with respect to the property and activities of the Board and to furnish him with returns, accounts and other information with respect thereto) shall be construed accordingly:
Provided that the Board shall not carry on any activities outside Great Britain except under an authority in that behalf conferred by order of the Minister.
(2) The power conferred by this section on the Minister shall be exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be laid before Parliament after being made.
3 Termination of certain long-term contracts transferred to the Board.
(1) Where a contract made before the primary vesting date to which a colliery concern or a class A or class B subsidiary of a colliery concern is a party contains provisions—
(a ) which provide—
(i) for the sale or supply by the concern or subsidiary to a person (in this section referred to as ‘the purchaser’) of products of colliery production activities;
(ii) for the employment of a person (in this section referred to as ‘the agent’) as agent of the concern or subsidiary for the purpose of the sale or supply by the concern or subsidiary of such products; or
(iii) in connection with the transfer (whether or not by way of sale) to some person (in this section referred to as ‘the transferee’) of a business or part of a business or the goodwill of a business, for restraining the concern or subsidiary (whether with or without limit of time) from selling or supplying such products either absolutely or in a specified area, or to specified persons or classes of persons (either generally or in a specified area) or for specified purposes or classes of purposes (either generally or in a specified area), or from carrying on business or a business of any class (either generally or in a specified area), or for securing that the concern or subsidiary shall be restrained as aforesaid;
(b ) which, by virtue of section seven of, and the Second Schedule to, the principal Act have effect as if the Board had been a party to the contract instead of the concern or subsidiary; and
(c ) whereof the operation cannot, apart from this section, be determined by the Board before the end of the year nineteen hundred and fifty-one;
this section shall apply to all the provisions of the contract which have effect as mentioned in paragraph (b ) of this subsection:
Provided that this section shall not apply to provisions of a contract whereto the parties were, immediately before the primary vesting date, not connected (whether directly or indirectly) with each other to any material extent apart from the contract; and, in the case of a contract for the rendering of personal services, this section shall not apply to provisions thereof by reason only that they provide for the sale or supply of products of colliery production activities to the person by whom the services are to be rendered.
(2) If the Board are of opinion that they are, or are likely to be, hampered in the efficient performance of their functions by the operation of provisions of a contract, being provisions to which this section applies, they may, by notice in writing served on the purchaser, agent or transferee, as the case may be, determine the operation of the provisions on such date during the period of two years beginning with the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty, as may be specified in the notice, not being a date earlier than six months from the date of the service of the notice, and—
(a ) if the contract does not comprise provisions other than those to which this section applies, it shall, as between the Board and the purchaser, agent or transferee, as the case may be, be deemed to be frustrated on that date, and the Board and the purchaser, agent or transferee, as the case may be, shall for that reason be deemed to be discharged from the further performance of their obligations by virtue of the provisions; and
(b ) if the contract comprises provisions other than provisions to which this section applies, so much of it as comprises provisions to which this section applies shall be treated as being a separate contract which shall, as between the Board and the purchaser, agent or transferee, as the case may be, be deemed to be frustrated on that date, and the Board and the purchaser, agent or transferee, as the case may be, shall, for that reason, be deemed to be discharged from the further performance of their obligations by virtue of the provisions to which this section applies:
Provided that the Board shall not determine the operation of provisions of a contract on the ground only that the financial terms thereof, or any of them, are, or may become, disadvantageous to them.
(3) The Board shall be liable, in consequence of an exercise, with respect to provisions of a contract, of their right under the last foregoing subsection, to pay to the purchaser, agent or transferee, as the case may be,—
(a ) in a case where the provisions contain all such terms as would be expected to be contained therein in the case of a contract entered into—
(i) in the open market in the ordinary course of business at the time when the contract which comprises the provisions was entered into; and
(ii) between parties independent of each other who negotiated at arm's length;
and do not contain any such terms as would not be expected to be so contained, compensation for the loss (if any) sustained by him in consequence of the exercise of that right; and
(b ) in any other case, compensation of an amount assessed by reference to the loss (if any) that would have been sustained by him in consequence of the exercise of that right if the provisions had been so adjusted as to satisfy the conditions specified in the foregoing paragraph.
(4) Any question whether provisions of a contract with respect to which the Board have served a notice under subsection (2) of this section are provisions to which this section applies or whether compensation is payable under this section to any person or as to the amount of compensation so payable shall, in default of agreement between the Board and that person, be determined by arbitration under the principal Act, and subsection (2) of section sixty-one of that Act (which relates to arbitration thereunder) shall apply accordingly; and upon a reference under this...
To continue reading
Request your trial