Iron and Steel Act 1982

1982 CHAPTER 25

An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to the British Steel Corporation and the iron and steel industry.

[13th July 1982]

Part I U.K. The British Steel Corporation and their Subsidiaries

[F1 1 The British Steel Corporation. E+W+S

(1) There shall continue to be a public authority called the British Steel Corporation (in this Act referred to as “the Corporation”), . . . F2 .

(2) The Corporation shall be a body corporate.

(3) The Corporation shall consist of a chairman and [F3 not less than seven][F3 not less than three] 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) Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect in relation to the Corporation.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 1 repealed (prosp.) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), ss. 16(3)(4), 17(4), Sch. 2 Pt. II, Sch. 3 para. 11

F2 Words repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), ss. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

F3 Words “not less than three”; substituted (temp.) for “not less than seven” by virtue of British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), ss. 10(1), 16(4), Sch. 3 para. 1

2—5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F4 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F4 Ss. 2–5 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F5 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F5 S. 6 repealed (with saving for s. 6(2) to (7)) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 paras. 6(1), 11

7—13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F6 U.K.

Textual Amendments

F6 Ss. 7–16 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

Part II E+W+S Finance

14—16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F7 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F7 Ss. 7–16 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F8 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F8 S. 17 repealed (with saving for s. 17(4)) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 paras. 3, 11

18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F9 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F9 S. 18 repealed (with saving for s. 18(5)(6)) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 paras. 4, 11

19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F10 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F10 S. 19 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F11 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F11 S. 20 repealed (with saving) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 paras. 7, 11

21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F12 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F12 S. 21 repealed (with saving for subsections (2) to (5)) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 paras. 5, 11

22, 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F13 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F13 Ss. 22, 23 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F14 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F14 S. 24 repealed (with saving) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 paras. 6(2), 11 (and subsequently amended by Companies Act 1989 (c. 40, SIF 27), s. 23, Sch 10 para. 32)

Part III E+W+S Iron and Steel Arbitration Tribunal

25—28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F15 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F15 Ss. 25–32 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

Part IV U.K. Miscellaneous and General

29—32. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F16 E+W+S

Textual Amendments

F16 Ss. 25–32 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

33 Restriction of disclosure of information. E+W+S

(1) No information obtained under this Act or any of its predecessors shall be disclosed except—

(a) with the consent of the person by whom it was supplied or, as the case may be, carrying on the undertaking or business to which the books, records or other documents from which it was obtained related; or

(b) in the form of a summary of information supplied by, or obtained from documents relating to undertakings or businesses carried on by, a number of persons, being a summary so framed as not to enable particulars relating to the business of individual persons to be ascertained therefrom; or

(c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F17

(d) with a view to the institution of, or otherwise for the purposes of, any criminal proceedings pursuant to, or arising out of, this Act or any of its predecessors.

(2) Nothing contained in a forecast obtained under this Act or any of its predecessors shall be disclosed except—

(a) with the consent of the person by whom the forecast was supplied;

(b) in the form of a summary of forecasts supplied by a number of persons, being a summary framed as mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above;

(c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F18 ; or

(d) as mentioned in subsection (1)(d) above.

(3) If a disclosure is made by a person in contravention of subsection (1) or (2) above he shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or to both.

(4) For the purposes of this section the predecessors of this Act are the M1 Iron and Steel Act 1949, the M2 Iron and Steel Act 1953, the M3 Iron and Steel Act 1967 and the M4 Iron and Steel Act 1975.

Textual Amendments

F17 S. 33(1)(c) repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

F18 S. 33(2)(c) repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

Marginal Citations

M1 1949 c. 72.

M2 1953 c. 15.

M3 1967 c. 17.

M4 1975 c. 64.

34 Offences by bodies corporate. E+W+S

(1) Where an offence under section . . . F19 33 above which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against accordingly.

(2) In subsection (1) above “director”, in relation to the Corporation or any other body corporate established by or under an enactment for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership an industry or part of an industry or under-taking, being a body corporate the affairs of which are managed by its members, means a member of the Corporation or that other body corporate, as the case may be.

Textual Amendments

F19 Words repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

35—38. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F20 U.K.

Textual Amendments

F20 Ss. 35–38 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

39 Short title, commencement and extent. U.K.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Iron and Steel Act 1982.

(2) This Act shall come into force on the expiration of the period of three months beginning with its passing.

(3) Without prejudice to the capacity of the Corporation under section 2 above, the following provisions only of this Act shall extend to Northern Ireland, that is to say, sections 12(1) and (2), 13(3) and (4), 36(1) and (5), 37, section 38 so far as it relates to paragraph 6 of Schedule 6 and to Schedule 7 and this section.

SCHEDULES

Section 1.

[F21 SCHEDULE 1 E+W+S Provisions as to the Corporation

Textual Amendments

F21 Sch. 1 repealed (prosp.) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), ss. 16(3)(4), 17(4), Sch. 2 Pt. II, Sch. 3 para. 11

Deputy chairmen E+W+S

1 E+W+S The Secretary of State may appoint one or more members of the Corporation to be deputy chairman or deputy chairmen of the Corporation.

Terms of office of members E+W+S

2 (1) Every member of the Corporation 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. E+W+S

(2) Any member may at any time by notice in writing to the Secretary of State resign his office.

3 (1) Before appointing a person to be a member of the Corporation, the Secretary of State shall satisfy himself that that person will have no such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially the exercise or performance by him of his functions as a member of the Corporation. E+W+S

(2) The Secretary of State shall from time to time satisfy himself with respect to every member of the Corporation that he has no such interest as is referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above.

(3) Any person whom the Secretary of State proposes to appoint as, and who has consented to be, a member of the Corporation, and any member of the Corporation, shall, whenever requested by the Secretary of State to do so, supply him with such information as the Secretary of State considers necessary for the performance by the Secretary of State of his duties under this paragraph.

4 (1) A member of the Corporation who is in any way directly or indirectly interested in a contract made or proposed to be made by the Corporation, or in any contract made or proposed to be made by a subsidiary of the Corporation, which is brought up for consideration by the Corporation, shall, as soon as possible after the relevant circumstances have come to his knowledge, declare the nature of his interest— E+W+S

(a) if he is the chairman, to the Secretary of State;

(b) if he is not the chairman, to the chairman;

(c) in any case, at a meeting of the Corporation.

(2) After a member has made a declaration under sub-paragraph (1) above in respect of any contract he shall not take part in any deliberation or decision of the Corporation with respect to the contract.

(3) A declaration made in pursuance of sub-paragraph (1)(c) above shall be recorded in the minutes of the Corporation.

Meetings and proceedings E+W+S

5 E+W+S The Corporation may act notwithstanding a vacancy among their members.

6 (1) The quorum of the Corporation shall be such number as the Corporation may from time to time determine, being— E+W+S

(a) not less than five if the number of the members of the Corporation exceeds ten; and

(b) [F22 not less than three][F22 not less than two] if the number of the members does not exceed ten.

(2) Where any member is disqualified from taking part in any deliberation or decision of the Corporation with respect to any matter he shall be disregarded for the purpose of constituting a quorum of the Corporation for deliberating on or deciding that matter.

(3) Subject to the preceding provisions of this paragraph, the Corporation may regulate their own procedure.

Textual Amendments

F22 Words “not less than two” substituted (temp) for “not less than three” by virtue of British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), ss. 10(1), 16(4), Sch. 3 para. 1.

Remuneration, pensions, etc. of members E+W+S

7 E+W+S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F23

Textual Amendments

F23 Sch. 1 paras. 7, 8 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

Compensation for loss of office E+W+S

8 E+W+S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F24

Textual Amendments

F24 Sch. 1 paras. 7, 8 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11

Officers E+W+S

9 E+W+S The Corporation shall appoint a secretary and may appoint such other officers and such servants as they may determine.

Sealing of instruments E+W+S

10 E+W+S The fixing of the seal of the Corporation shall be authenticated by the signature of the secretary of the Corporation or of some other person authorised, either generally or specially, by the Corporation to act for that purpose.

11 E+W+S Every document purporting to be an instrument issued by the Corporation and to be sealed as aforesaid or signed on behalf of the Corporation shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such an instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown.]

SCHEDULE 2 E+W+S . . . F25

Textual Amendments

F25 Sch. 2 repealed (with saving) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 paras. 6(1), 11

SCHEDULE 3 E+W+S . . . F26

Textual Amendments

F26 Sch. 3 repealed (with saving) by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 paras. 8(1), 9, 11

SCHEDULE 4—6 U.K. . . . F27

Textual Amendments

F27 Schs. 4–6 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I. Sch. 3 para. 11

F28 F28 SCHEDULE 7 U.K.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F28 Sch. 7 repealed by British Steel Act 1988 (c. 35, SIF 70), s. 16(3)(4), Sch. 2 Pt. I, Sch. 3 para. 11