Iron and Steel Act 1975
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Iron and Steel Act 1975
1975 CHAPTER 64
An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to the British Steel Corporation and the iron and steel industry.
[12th November 1975]
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
CompaniesBritish Steel Corporation and Publicly-Owned
1 British Steel Corporation.
(1) There shall continue to be a public authority called the British Steel Corporation (in this Act referred to as ‘the Corporation’), which shall have such powers and duties as are conferred and imposed on them by, or by virtue of, this Act.
(2) The Corporation shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal.
(3) The Corporation shall consist of a chairman and not less than seven nor more than twenty other members.
(4) The chairman and the other members of the Corporation shall be appointed by the Secretary of State from amongst persons appearing to him to have had wide experience of, and shown capacity in, the production of iron ore or iron or steel, industrial, commercial or financial matters, applied science, administration or the organisation of workers.
(5) The appointment of a member of the Corporation, other than the chairman, shall not be made by the Secretary of State except after consultation with the chairman.
(6) As soon as possible after appointing a person to be a member of the Corporation the Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a statement of the term for which he has been appointed.
(7) The provisions of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect in relation to the Corporation.
2 General duty of the Corporation.
(1) It shall be incumbent on the Corporation—
(a ) to promote the efficient and economical supply by the Corporation and the publicly-owned companies of iron and steel products, and to secure that those products of the Corporation and the publicly-owned companies are available in such quantities, and are of such types, qualities and sizes, and are available at such prices, as may seem to the Corporation best calculated to satisfy the reasonable demands of the persons (including those in Northern Ireland) who use those products for manufacturing purposes and to further the public interest in all respects;
(b ) to secure that neither the Corporation nor a publicly-owned company shall show undue preference to, or exercise unfair discrimination against, any such persons, or any class of such persons, in the supply and price of iron and steel products, but without prejudice to any variations in the terms and conditions of supply of those products which may arise from ordinary commercial considerations or from the public interest;
(c ) to take such steps as appear to the Corporation to be practicable and desirable for the promotion of the export of iron and steel products and of other products of the Corporation or a publicly-owned company; and
(d ) to take such steps, in accordance with a general programme settled from time to time with the approval of the Secretary of State, as appear to the Corporation to be practicable and desirable for—
(i) the promotion of research into matters affecting, or arising out of, the carrying on of iron and steel activities or of any other activities carried on by the Corporation or a publicly-owned company; and
(2) Where the Corporation promote research or the doing of work otherwise than by themselves prosecuting or doing it, they may give assistance, including financial assistance, for that purpose.
(3) The policy of the Corporation shall be directed to securing the safety, health and welfare of persons employed by them and by the publicly-owned companies.
(4) Nothing in subsection (1) above shall be construed as imposing upon the Corporation, either directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable in any court.
(5) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section or in section 3 of this Act shall be construed as—
(a ) imposing on the Corporation any duty to carry on, or to secure the carrying on by the Corporation and publicly-owned companies, of iron and steel activities except to such extent as the Corporation think fit; or
(b ) precluding the Corporation from disposing of an asset used, or capable of use, for the purpose of any of those activities or from disposing of any interest in a company in which any such asset is vested.
(6) In determining the location of their commercial and administrative offices the Corporation shall have regard to the location of the manufacturing activities under their ultimate control and to the desirability of distributing major commercial and administrative offices throughout Great Britain.
3 Powers of the Corporation.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Corporation shall have power—
(a ) to carry on any iron and steel activities and to sell iron and steel products; and
(b ) with the consent of, or in accordance with the terms of any general authority given by, the Secretary of State, to carry on any other activities which any publicly-owned company is for the time being authorised by its memorandum of association or by its charter of incorporation or other charter, as the case may be, to carry on, or which any company that was at any time publicly-owned was at any time so authorised to carry on.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) above shall empower the Corporation to hold or acquire interests in any company or to form, or take part in forming, any company.
(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Corporation shall have power—
(a ) to hold interests in companies which were vested in them under, or by virtue of, the Iron and Steel Act 1967 ;
(b ) with the consent of, or in accordance with the terms of any general authority given by, the Secretary of State, to acquire by agreement, and to hold, interests in other companies;
(c ) with the consent of, or in accordance with the terms of any general authority given by, the Secretary of State, to form, or take part in forming, companies; and
(d ) to exercise all rights conferred by the holding of interests in companies.
(4) The Corporation shall have power to provide for any group of companies (whether consisting of all or any of the publicly-owned companies, other companies or both) any services which, in the opinion of the Corporation, can conveniently be provided as common services therefor; and for the purposes of this subsection the Corporation shall be entitled to treat themselves as being included amongst the publicly-owned companies.
(5) The Corporation shall have power to do any thing or to enter into any transaction (whether or not involving the expenditure of money, the borrowing of money in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the lending of money, the acquisition of any property or rights or the disposal of any property or rights) which in their opinion is calculated to facilitate the proper carrying on of their activities under subsection (1) above or the proper exercise of their powers under subsection (3) or (4) above.
(6) Any reference in this section to interests in a company includes a reference to rights in respect of money lent to the company or guarantees given for the benefit of the company.
(7) The provisions of this section relate only to the capacity of the Corporation as a statutory corporation, and nothing in those provisions shall be construed as authorising the disregard by the Corporation of any enactment or rule of law.
4 General powers of the Secretary of State in relation to the Corporation.
(1) The Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Corporation, give to the Corporation directions of a general character as to the exercise and performance by the Corporation of their functions (including the exercise of rights conferred by the holding of interests in companies) in relation to matters which appear to him to affect the national interest; and the Corporation shall give effect to any directions so given.
(2) The power to give directions to the Corporation under this section shall, notwithstanding the limitation therein to the giving of directions of a general character, extend to the giving to them of directions of a general or specific character which appear to the Secretary of State to be requisite to secure that the carrying on of the activities that have fallen to be carried on under their ultimate control is organised, so far as regards the direction thereof, in the most efficient manner.
(3) The Corporation shall not make, or permit to be made, any substantial change in the manner in which the carrying on of the activities that have fallen to be carried on under their ultimate control is organised, so far as regards the direction thereof, except with the consent of the Secretary of State or in pursuance of a direction given by him by virtue of subsection (2) above.
(4) In carrying out any measure of reorganisation or any work of development which involves substantial outlay on capital account, and in securing the carrying out by publicly-owned companies of any...
To continue reading
Request your trial