Coal Industry Act 1973

3 Extension of power to make grants to Board in connection with pit closures

(1) The financial years of the Board in respect of which grants may be made by the Secretary of State to the Board under section 1 of the Act of 1971 shall include the financial years ending in March 1975 and in March 1976 respectively.

(2) Grants made under that section in respect of any financial year of the Board shall not in the aggregate exceed one-half of the relevant expenditure of the Board for that financial year; and, in the case of the financial year ending in March 1974, that limit shall have effect in substitution for the limit (namely, one-third of the relevant expenditure) specified in section 1(3)(c) of the Act of 1971.

(3) The limit of £24 million imposed by subsection (3) of section 1 of the Act of 1971 on the aggregate amount of the grants under that section shall have effect as a limit on the aggregate amount of the grants made under that section in respect of expenditure for the period consisting of the financial years of the Board ending in March 1972 and in March 1973 respectively.

(4) The grants made under that section in respect of expenditure for the period consisting of the financial years 1974-1976 shall not in the aggregate exceed £60 million.

(5) The Secretary of State may by order direct that the financial years of the Board in respect of which grants may be made under that section shall also include the financial years ending in March 1977 and in March 1978 respectively; and, if such an order is made, the grants so made in respect of expenditure for the period consisting of the financial years 1974-1976 and those two further financial years shall not in the aggregate exceed £100 million.

(6) In this section “relevant expenditure ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3(3)(b) of the Act of 1965, and any reference to expenditure for any financial year of the Board shall be construed as mentioned in section 1(4) of the Act of 1971.