Transport Act 1947
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1947 c. 49 |
| Year | 1947 |
Transport Act, 1947
(10 & 11 Geo. 6.) 49.
An Act to provide for the establishment of a British Transport Commission concerned with transport and certain other related matters, to specify their powers and duties, to provide for the transfer to them of undertakings, parts of undertakings, property, rights, obligations and liabilities, to amend the law relating to transport, inland waterways, harbours and port facilities, to make certain consequential provision as to income tax, to make provision as to pensions and gratuities in the case of certain persons who become officers of the Minister of Transport, and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[6th August 1947]
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.
The British Transport Commission.
1 The Commission
(1) For the purposes of this Act, there shall be a public authority to be called the British Transport Commission (in this Act referred to as ‘the Commission’).
(2) The Commission shall consist of a chairman and not less than four nor more than eight other members, all of whom shall be appointed by the Minister from among persons appearing to him to be persons who have had wide experience and shown capacity in transport, industrial, commercial or financial matters, in administration, or in the organisation of workers, and of whom the Chairman and not less than four other members shall be required to render whole-time service to the Commission.
(3) Every member of the Commission shall hold and vacate his office in accordance with the terms of his appointment and shall, on ceasing to be a member, be eligible for re-appointment:
Provided that any member may at any time by notice in writing to the Minister resign his office.
(4) A person shall be disqualified for being appointed or being a member of the Commission so long as he is a member of the Commons House of Parliament.
(5) Before appointing a person to be a member of the Commission, the Minister shall satisfy himself that that person will have no such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially the discharge by him of his functions as a member of the Commission and the Minister shall also satisfy himself from time to time with respect to every member of the Commission that he has no such interest; and any person who is, or whom the Minister proposes to appoint to be, a member of the Commission shall, whenever requested by the Minister so to do, furnish to him such information as the Minister considers necessary for the performance by the Minister of his duties under this subsection.
(6) A member of the Commission who is in any way directly or indirectly interested in a contract made or proposed to be made by the Commission shall disclose the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Commission; and the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the Commission, and the member shall not take any part in any deliberation or decision of the Commission with respect to that contract.
(7) The Commission—
(a ) shall pay to the members thereof such salaries or fees, and such allowances, as the Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, determine; and
(b ) on the retirement or death of any of the members as to whom the Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, determine that such provision should be made, shall pay to or in respect of them such pensions as he may so determine.
(8) The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the first appointment of any person as a member of the Commission, lay before each House of Parliament a statement of the salary or fees and of the allowances which the Commission are required to pay to that person under the last preceding subsection.
(9) The provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the Commission.
2 Powers of Commission
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Commission shall have power—
(a ) to carry goods and passengers by rail, road and inland waterway, within Great Britain;
(b ) to provide, within Great Britain, port facilities and facilities for traffic by inland waterway;
(c ) to store goods within Great Britain, whether or not those goods have been or are to be carried by the Commission, so, however, that facilities for the storage of goods which have not been or are not to he carried by the Commission shall not be provided by the Commission except on premises where such facilities are provided for the storage of goods carried or to be carried by them;
(d ) to consign goods on behalf of other persons from any place in Great Britain, or from any place to which the Commission have themselves carried the goods in question, to any other place, whether in Great Britain or elsewhere;
(e ) in places within Great Britain where their passengers may require them, to provide both for their passengers and for other persons hotels, hostels, other living accommodation and places for refreshment; and
(f ) to provide in Great Britain such other amenities and facilities for passengers and other persons making use of the services provided by them as it may appear to them requisite or expedient to provide:
Provided that the Commission shall not have power to carry passengers by road in a hackney carriage adapted to carry less than eight passengers and used in plying or standing for hire in a street.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the powers conferred by subsection (1) of this section include power—
(a ) to construct, manufacture, purchase, maintain and repair anything required for the purpose of any of the activities of the Commission specified in that subsection;
(b ) to do anything for the purpose of advancing the skill of persons employed by the Commission or the efficiency of the equipment of the Commission or of the manner in which that equipment is operated, including the provision by the Commission, and the assistance of the provision by others, of facilities for training, education and research;
(c ) to buy land, or take land on lease or under any form of tenancy;
(d ) to provide houses, hostels and other like accommodation for persons employed by the Commission;
(e ) to do all other things which in the opinion of the Commission are necessary to facilitate the proper carrying on of the business of the Commission;
(f ) to acquire by agreement (whether absolutely or for any period) the whole or any part of any undertaking of any other person, being an undertaking, or a part of an undertaking, the activities whereof are wholly or mainly such activities as are specified in the said subsection (1);
(g ) to enter into and carry out agreements with any person for the carrying on by that person, whether as agent for the Commission or otherwise, of any of the activities specified in the said subsection (1), or for the provision by that person, whether as agent for the Commission or otherwise, of clearing house facilities in connection with the transport of goods;
(h ) to enter into and carry out agreements with any person carrying on business as a carrier of passengers or goods outside Great Britain providing for the carriage of passengers or goods by or on behalf of the Commission and that other person under one contract or at a through charge or in the same vehicles or containers, whether belonging to the Commission or not;
(i ) to lend money to, or give guarantees for the benefit of, any person carrying on or about to carry on any of the activities specified in the said subsection (1), to lend money to, or give guarantees for the benefit of, any body corporate which directly or indirectly controls another body corporate which is carrying on or about to carry on any such activities, and to acquire by agreement any securities of any body corporate which is carrying on or about to carry on or which directly or indirectly controls another body corporate which is carrying on or about to carry on any such activities;
(j ) to make housing loans to persons employed by the Commission to assist them to acquire housing accommodation:
Provided that—
(i) the Commission shall not by virtue of this subsection engage in the building of ships, except lighters, barges or like vessels of a gross tonnage not exceeding one hundred and seventy-five tons;
(ii) the Commission shall not, by virtue of this subsection, construct or manufacture anything required for the purposes of any such activities of the Commission as are specified in paragraphs (e ) and (f ) of subsection (1) of this section unless either the construction or manufacture is such as would normally be carried on by persons carrying on a business the principal objects of which were restricted to the activities in question or the construction or manufacture of similar things is carried on by the Commission in connection with any such activities as are specified in paragraphs (a ), (b ), (c ) or (d ) of the said subsection (1);
(iii) the Commission shall not, by virtue of this subsection, construct, manufacture, or otherwise produce anything which is not required for use for the purposes of their undertaking.
(3) Where, whether by agreement or otherwise, the Commission acquire the whole or any part of any undertaking of any other person, they may, subject to the provisions of this Act, carry on any activities, whether mentioned in subsection (1) of this section or not, which were theretofore carried on for the purposes of that undertaking or part of an undertaking or were authorised by any statutory provision to be carried on for the purposes thereof:
Provided that, notwithstanding anything in this subsection or in any subsequent provision of this Act...
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