(1)The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, provide financial assistance to a core fuel sector participant for the purpose of—
(a)maintaining or improving core fuel sector resilience, or
(b)securing or maintaining continuity of supply of core fuels.
(2)Financial assistance under this section may be given in any form.
(3)Financial assistance under this section may, in particular, be given by way of—
(a)grants,
(b)loans,
(c)guarantee or indemnity,
(d)the acquisition of shares or any other interest in, or securities of, a body corporate,
(e)the acquisition of any undertaking or assets, or
(f)incurring expenditure for the benefit of the person assisted.
(4)Financial assistance under this section may be given on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate (including provision for repayment, with or without interest).
(5)The Secretary of State is not authorised by this section to give financial assistance in the way described in subsection (3)(d) without the consent of the body corporate concerned.
(1)The Secretary of State may by regulations amend or modify any provision mentioned in subsection (2) for the purpose of varying any amount for the time being specified in that provision.
(2)The provisions are—
(a)section 269(7) (directions to core fuel sector participants);
(b)section 272(5) (corresponding powers to make regulations);
(c)section 273(1) (power to require information);
(d)section 274(2)(a) and (b) (duty to report incidents);
(e)section 276(1) (provision of information at specified intervals).
(3)Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.
(1)In this Part—
“company” means a company within the meaning of section 1 of the Companies Act 2006;
“continuity of supply of core fuels” is to be interpreted in accordance with section 268(7);
“core fuel sector activity” has the meaning given by section 268;
“core fuel sector participant” has the meaning given by section 268(6);
“core fuel sector resilience” has the meaning given by section 268(5);
“core fuels” has the meaning given by section 268(4);
“crude oil” means any liquid hydrocarbon mixture occurring naturally in the earth whether or not treated to render it suitable for transportation, and includes—
crude oils from which distillate fractions have been removed, and
crude oils to which distillate fractions have been added;
“crude oil based fuel” means any fuel comprised wholly or mainly of crude oil or substances derived from crude oil;
“enactment” includes—
an enactment contained in subordinate legislation (as defined in section 21 of the Interpretation Act 1978);
an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, a Measure or Act of Senedd Cymru;
an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament;
an enactment contained in, or in an instrument made under, Northern Ireland legislation;
any retained direct EU legislation;
“enforcement undertaking” has the meaning given by section 284;
“oil” means—
crude oil;
crude oil based fuels;
components;
“the owned facility”, in relation to a Part 12 facility owner, has the meaning given by section 268(11);
“Part 12 facility owner” has the meaning given by section 268(11);
“person carrying on core fuel sector activities” is to be interpreted in accordance with section 268(13);
“relevant activities or assets” is to be interpreted in accordance with section 268(10);
“relevant wetstock manager” has the meaning given by section 273(3);
“renewable transport fuel” has the meaning given by section 132 of the Energy Act 2004;
“terminal” means any site for the storage in bulk of oil or renewable transport fuel.
(2)In this Part references to the “capacity” of a business or of a facility or infrastructure are to be interpreted in accordance with section 269(8).
(3)References in this Part to a person carrying on business include references to a person carrying on business in partnership with one or more other persons.
(4)For the purposes of the definition of “oil” in subsection (1) “component” means any substance (whether or not derived from crude oil) of a kind which is mixed with other substances to produce a crude oil based fuel.