Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1946 c. 59 |
Coal Industry Nationalisation Act, 1946
(9 & 10 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 59.
An Act to establish public ownership and control of the coal-mining industry and certain allied activities; and for purposes connected therewith.
[12th July 1946]
B E 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:—
The National Coal Board.
1 Establishment of National Coal Board and functions thereof.
(1) There shall be a National Coal Board which shall, on and after the primary vesting date, be charged with the duties of—
(a ) working and getting the coal in Great Britain, to the exclusion (save as in this Act provided) of any other person;
(b ) securing the efficient development of the coal-mining industry; and
(c ) making supplies of coal available, of such qualities and sizes, in such quantities and at such prices, as may seem to them best calculated to further the public interest in all respects, including the avoidance of any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage.
(2) The functions of the National Coal Board (in this Act referred to as ‘the Board’) shall include the carrying on of all such activities as it may appear to the Board to be requisite, advantageous or convenient for them to carry on for or in connection with the discharge of their duties under the preceding subsection, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of this section,—
(a ) searching and boring for coal in Great Britain, to the exclusion of any other person;
(b ) treating, rendering saleable, supplying and selling coal;
(c ) producing, manufacturing, treating, rendering saleable, supplying and selling products of coal;
(d ) producing or manufacturing any goods or utilities which are of a kind required by the Board for or in connection with the working and getting of coal or any other of their activities, or which can advantageously be produced or manufactured by the Board by reason of their having materials or facilities for the production or manufacture thereof in connection with the working and getting of coal or any other of their activities, and supplying and selling goods or utilities so produced or manufactured;
(e ) any activities which can advantageously be carried on by the Board with a view to making the best use of any of the assets vested in them by this Act;
(f ) activities conducive to advancing the skill of persons employed or to be employed for the purposes of any of the activities aforesaid, or the efficiency of equipment and methods to be used therefor, including the provision by the Board themselves, and their assisting the provision by others, of facilities for training, education and research.
(3) The Board shall have power to do any thing and to enter into any transaction (whether or not involving the expenditure, borrowing in accordance with the provisions of this Act in that behalf or lending of money, the acquisition of any property or rights, or the disposal of any property or rights not in their opinion required for the proper discharge of their functions) which in their opinion is calculated to facilitate the proper discharge of their duties under subsection (1) of this section or the carrying on by them of any such activities as aforesaid, or is incidental or conducive thereto.
(4) The policy of the Board shall be directed to securing, consistently with the proper discharge of their duties under subsection (1) of this section,—
(a ) the safety, health and welfare of persons in their employment;
(b ) the benefit of the practical knowledge and experience of such persons in the organisation and conduct of the operations in which they are employed;
(c ) that the revenues of the Board shall not be less than sufficient for meeting all their outgoings properly chargeable to revenue account (including, without prejudice to the generality of that expression, provisions in respect of their obligations under sections twenty-eight and twenty-nine of this Act) on an average of good and bad years.
2 Constitution of the Board.
(1) The Board shall be a body corporate by the name of ‘the National Coal Board’, with perpetual succession and a common seal and power to hold land without licence in mortmain.
(2) The Board shall consist of a chairman and eight other members.
(3) The chairman and other members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister of Fuel and Power (in this Act referred to as ‘the Minister’) from amongst persons appearing to him to be qualified as having had experience of, and having shown capacity in, industrial, commercial or financial matters, applied science, administration, or the organisation of workers.
(4) A person shall be disqualified for being appointed or being a member of the Board so long as he is a member of the Commons House of Parliament.
(5) The Minister shall appoint one of the members of the Board to act as deputy chairman.
(6) There shall be paid to the members of the Board such salaries and allowances as may be determined by the Minister with the approval of the Treasury, and, on the retirement or death of any of them as to whom it may be so determined to make such provision, such pensions and gratuities to them or to others by reference to their service as may be so determined.
The said salaries and allowances, and any such pensions and gratuities as aforesaid, shall be paid out of the revenues of the Board.
(7) The Minister may make regulations with respect to—
(a ) the appointment of, and the tenure and vacation of office by, the members of the Board;
(b ) the quorum, proceedings and meetings of the Board, and determinations of the Board; and
(c ) the execution of instruments and the mode of entering into contracts by and on behalf of the Board, and the proof of documents purporting to be executed, issued or signed by the Board or a member, officer or servant thereof.
(8) Subject to the provisions of any regulations made under the last preceding subsection, the Board shall have power to regulate their own procedure.
3 Powers of the Minister in relation to the Board.
(1) The Minister may, after consultation with the Board, give to the Board directions of a general character as to the exercise and performance by the Board of their functions in relation to matters appearing to the Minister to affect the national interest, and the Board shall give effect to any such directions.
(2) In framing programmes of reorganisation or development involving substantial outlay on capital account, the Board shall act on lines settled from time to time with the approval of the Minister.
(3) In the exercise and performance of their functions as to training, education and research, the Board shall act on lines settled as aforesaid.
(4) The Board shall afford to the Minister facilities for obtaining information with respect to the property and activities of the Board, and shall furnish him with returns, accounts and other information with respect thereto and afford to him facilities for the verification of information furnished, in such manner and at such times as he may require.
4 Consumers' councils.
(1) There shall be established for the purposes mentioned in this section two consumers' councils, to be known respectively as the Industrial Coal Consumers' Council and the Domestic Coal Consumers' Council.
(2) Each of the said councils shall consist of such number of persons as the Minister may think fit, appointed by him to represent the Board, and—
(a ) in the case of the Industrial Coal Consumers' Council, after consultation with such bodies representative of the interests concerned as the Minister thinks fit, to represent consumers of coal, coke and manufactured fuel respectively, for industrial purposes or other purposes involving supply in bulk, and persons engaged in organising or effecting the sale or supply, whether for home use or for export, of coal, coke and manufactured fuel respectively, for those purposes;
(b ) in the case of the Domestic Coal Consumers' Council, after consultation with such bodies representative of the interests concerned as the Minister thinks fit, to represent consumers of coal, coke and manufactured fuel respectively, for domestic purposes and other purposes not falling within the preceding paragraph, and persons engaged in organising or effecting the sale or supply of coal, coke and manufactured fuel respectively, for those purposes.
In formulating his proposals for appointments to each of the said councils, the Minister shall have particular regard to nominations made to him by the said bodies representative of the interests concerned of persons recommended by them as having both adequate knowledge of the...
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