Coal Act 1938

2 For subsection (2) of the said section thirteen there shall be substituted the following subsection :—

“(2) In relation to any scheme submitted to the Board of Trade under this section by the Coal Commission, the Act of 1926 shall have effect as if for the proviso to subsection (2) of section seven thereof and section eight thereof (which both relate to the consideration of schemes by the Railway and Canal Commission) there were substituted the following proviso, that is to say :—

Provided that the Railway and Canal Commission—

(a) shall hear such persons, whether in support of or against the scheme, as they think fit, including representatives of persons employed in any undertakings affected by the scheme; and

(b) shall not have power to make, or require to be made, in the scheme modifications inconsistent with the enactments relating to the matters which are required to be provided for by schemes submitted to the Board of Trade by the Coal Commission but subject as aforesaid may make such modifications, if any, as they consider necessary for enabling the amalgamation or absorption affected by the scheme to be carried out upon terms and conditions that are fair and equitable to all persons affected by the scheme, and are calculated to avoid financial injury to any of the constituent companies and to enable the undertaking of the transferee company to be efficiently carried on; and

(c) shall (after giving notice of any modifications proposed to be made by them not only to the Commission but also to the constituent companies in like manner as they would have been required by section ten of the Act of 1926 to do if the scheme had been submitted by those companies) confirm the scheme if they are satisfied that it conforms to the enactments relating thereto and, consistently with those enactments, that the amalgamation or absorption affected by the scheme will be carried out upon such terms and conditions as aforesaid.”