Industrial Expansion Act 1968
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1968 c. 32 |
Industrial ExpansionAct 1968
1968 CHAPTER 32
An Act to authorise the provision of financial support, pursuant to schemes laid before Parliament, for industrial projects calculated to improve efficiency, create, expand or sustain productive capacity or promote or support technological improvements, and in that connection to extend the powers of the National Research Development Corporation and the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation; to make provision or further provision for financial support for certain other industrial projects and undertakings, and to amend section 7 of the Development of Inventions Act 1967; to modify section 1 of the Civil Aviation Act 1949 in relation to the purchase of the undertaking of Beagle Aircraft Limited and other transactions; to make further provision with respect to the supply powers of Ministers under the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 and to the exercise of functions by the Board of Trade; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[30th May 1968]
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:—
Industrial investment schemes
1 Provision of money for industrial investment schemes.
(1) There may be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament any expenditure of a competent authority pursuant to a scheme (in this Act referred to as ‘an industrial investment scheme’) made under the following provisions of this Act.
(2) An industrial investment scheme may be made by a competent authority with the approval of the Treasury: but no such scheme shall be made unless a draft of the scheme has been laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of the House of Commons.
(3) For the purposes of this Act the competent authorities are the Minister of Technology, a Secretary of State, the Board of Trade, the Minister of Public Building and Works, the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Power, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Minister of Health.
2 Contents of schemes.
(1) An industrial investment scheme may be made by a competent authority for the purposes of any project which, in the opinion of that authority, is likely to benefit the economy of the United Kingdom, or any part or area of the United Kingdom, as being calculated—
(a ) to improve the efficiency and profitability of an industry or section of an industry;
(b ) to create, expand or sustain productive capacity in an industry or section of an industry; or
(c ) to promote or support technological improvements in the processes or products of an industry or section of an industry,
but would not be undertaken without such financial support as is authorised by this section.
(2) An industrial investment scheme may authorise a competent authority to provide financial support in any form for the purposes of a project to which the scheme relates, and in particular (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision) may authorise that authority for those purposes—
(a ) to make loans or grants to such persons or bodies as may be determined by or under the scheme;
(b ) to guarantee the repayment by such persons or bodies of money borrowed by them or the payment of interest on such money;
(c ) to underwrite the whole or part of any loss which may be incurred by such persons or bodies in connection with the production of goods or the provision of services;
(d ) to purchase goods from such persons or bodies or use or make arrangements for the use of services provided by them;
(e ) to subscribe for or purchase by agreement shares in any company specified or described in the scheme or to be formed pursuant thereto;
(f ) to purchase by agreement the undertaking or any part of the undertaking of any such company.
(3) Financial support shall not be provided under an industrial investment scheme to any of the bodies specified in Schedule 1 to this Act nor, until the dissolution of the Shipbuilding Industry Board, to any person for the purpose of a shipbuilding under-taking within the meaning of the Shipbuilding Industry Act 1967 , and no such scheme shall authorise the subscription for or purchase of shares in any company (other than a company to be formed pursuant to the scheme) without the consent of the company.
(4) In this section ‘shares’ include stock.
3 General schemes and industry boards.
(1) The power of a competent authority to make industrial investment schemes shall include power to make, after such inquiry as the authority considers appropriate as to the conditions prevailing in any industry or section of an industry, a general scheme for the purposes of that industry or section authorising the provision, during such period as may be prescribed by the scheme, of financial support of such kinds and up to such amounts as may be specified in the scheme for industrial projects of any class so specified which may be undertaken within that industry or section.
(2) Any such general scheme may constitute for the industry or section concerned a board (in this Act referred to as an industry board) having the following functions, namely—
(a ) to make recommendations to the competent authority, in such cases as the board think proper, for the provision of financial support in accordance with the scheme;
(b ) to undertake at the request and on behalf of the competent authority any administrative functions of that authority under the scheme or any corresponding functions of that authority under any other enactment in relation to the relevant industry or section.
(3) A scheme constituting an industry board may direct that Schedule 2 to this Act shall apply to the board, and subject thereto may regulate the composition of the board and make provision for purposes incidental and supplementary to its constitution and functions.
(4) In Part II of Schedule 1 to the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957 (bodies of which all members are disqualified under that Act), both in its application to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and in its application to the Senate and House of Commons of Northern Ireland, there shall be inserted at the appropriate point in alphabetical order the words ‘An industry board constituted under the Industrial Expansion Act 1968’.
(5) The expenses of an industry board, to such amount as may be sanctioned by the Treasury, shall be defrayed by the competent authority out of moneys provided by Parliament.
4 Limits on expenditure under schemes.
(1) Every industrial investment scheme shall specify the aggregate amount of the expenditure which may be incurred by a competent authority thereunder, other than expenditure in fulfilling any guarantee of the payment of interest.
(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, the aggregate of the amounts so specified by industrial investment schemes for the time being in force and of expenditure of competent authorities under industrial investment schemes revoked shall not exceed 100 million.
(3) The Minister of Technology with the approval of the Treasury may by order of which a draft has been laid before and approved by resolution of the House of Commons, increase the limit of 100 million mentioned in subsection (2) above to such amount not exceeding 150 million as may be specified in the order.
5 Advisory and administrative services.
(1) The Minister of Technology may appoint an Advisory Committee for the purpose of advising him and other competent authorities with respect to any such exercise of their functions under the foregoing provisions of this Act as they may refer to that Committee.
(2) The Minister may pay to or in respect of the members of an Advisory Committee appointed under this section such remuneration or allowances as he may with the consent of the Treasury determine.
(3) An Advisory Committee appointed under this section shall consist of a chairman and not less than four nor more than eight other members.
(4) The members of any Advisory Committee appointed under this section shall include such members of the National Research Development Corporation and of the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation as the Minister may, after consultation with those Corporations respectively, from time to time determine; and the other members of that Committee shall be appointed from among persons who appear to the Minister to have wide experience of, and to have shown capacity in, industry, technology, commercial or financial matters, administration or the organisation of workers.
(5) Each of the said Corporations shall have power—
(a ) to provide staff or facilities for the use of an Advisory Committee appointed under this section;
(b ) to undertake at the request and on behalf of any such Committee any investigation required for the purposes of the Committee;
(c ) to undertake at the request and on behalf of a competent authority any negotiations with a view to the making of an industrial investment scheme or any administrative functions of that authority under such a scheme.
(6) The provisions of the Development of Inventions Act 1967 and of the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation Act 1966 relating to directions or approval by Ministers, finance, accounts and audit and reports and information shall not apply to the National Research Development Corporation or the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation in respect of functions or expenditure under this section.
(7) There shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament—
(a ) any expenditure...
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