24 Abolition of pilotage authorities.U.K.
(1)On the appointed day every pilotage authority within the meaning of the M1Pilotage Act 1983 shall cease to exist as such an authority.
(2)Not later than such date as the Secretary of State may direct before the appointed day the Pilotage Commission shall submit to the Secretary of State proposals for a scheme or schemes to be made by him for the transfer of the relevant property, rights and liabilities of the pilotage authorities (including in particular liabilities in respect of pensions payable in respect of staff or former staff) and the arrangements to be made in accordance with section 25 below as respects their staff and any staff employed by persons licensed as pilots under section 12 of the M2Pilotage Act 1983 to whom the Commission considers the arrangements should also apply.
(3)Where only one competent harbour authority is to exercise functions under this Act in the harbours in the former pilotage district of a pilotage authority or, in the case of a pilotage authority which is the authority for more than one district, in all the districts of the pilotage authority, the proposed scheme or schemes shall provide for any property, rights and liabilities of that pilotage authority which in the opinion of the Pilotage Commission have been used, have accrued or, as the case may be, have been incurred exclusively in connection with its pilotage functions to vest in that competent harbour authority.
(4)In the case of any pilotage authority to which subsection (3) above does not apply, the proposed scheme or schemes—
(a)shall provide for the vesting in any competent harbour authority the Pilotage Commission considers appropriate or in the Commission itself of any property, rights and liabilities of the pilotage authority which, in the opinion of the Commission, have been used, have accrued or, as the case may be, have been incurred exclusively in connection with the authority’s pilotage functions;
(b)may make similar provision as to any such property, rights and liabilities which, in the opinion of the Commission have been used, have accrued or, as the case may be, have been incurred substantially but not exclusively in connection with those functions; and
(c)may require any competent harbour authority the Commission considers appropriate to make provision to secure that the future payment of any pension which is payable in respect of staff or former staff of the pilotage authority and calculated by reference to remuneration paid and service given before the appointed day is properly funded or guaranteed.
(5)Proposals submitted under subsection (2) above may include such supplementary and incidental provision in connection with the matters there mentioned as the Pilotage Commission considers appropriate.
(6)Not later than three months before the appointed day the Secretary of State shall make a scheme or schemes giving effect to the proposals submitted to him under subsection (2) above with such modifications as he considers appropriate and on the appointed day the property, rights and liabilities of the pilotage authorities shall vest in accordance with thescheme or schemes.
(7)The modifications which may be made under subsection (6) above include the substitution for a provision for property of a person who is a pilotage authority to vest in a competent harbour authority or the Pilotage Commission of a provision for that person to retain that property and pay to the competent harbour authority or, as the case may be, the Commission such sum as may be agreed between them to be the value of the property at the appointed day.
(8)Nothing in this section shall require a scheme to make provision for the vesting in a competent harbour authority of any property, rights or liabilities already vested in it in its capacity as a pilotage authority.
(9)The Pilotage Commission may require any pilotage authority to furnish it within such time and in such form as the Commission may specify with such information as it considers necessary for the purpose of formulating the proposals to be submitted by it under this section; and any member of the Commission or person appointed by it for the purpose may inspect any books, documents or other records in the possession of the authority relating to any matter in respect of which information is required to be furnished under this subsection.
(10)Before submitting proposals for a scheme under subsection (2) above the Pilotage Commission shall consult the competent harbour authorities and pilotage authorities likely to be affected by the proposals and such persons or organisations as appear to it to be representative of the staff or former staff likely to be affected by them; and before making a scheme giving effect to those proposals the Secretary of State shall consider any representations concerning those proposals made to him by any such authority or by any person or organisation which appears to him to be so representative.
(11)Where an order is made under section 1(3)(b) above in respect of an authority to which any property, rights or liabilities have been transferred under this section, the order shall, if the Secretary of State considers that it is appropriate for it to do so, make provision for the transfer of them to the authority which he considers should exercise pilotage functions within its harbour.
(12)References in this section and in section 25 below to a pilotage authority include references to any committee appointed by the authority under section 9(1)(e) of the M3Pilotage Act 1983.