Fisheries Act 1955

2 Financial assistance for construction, improvement and repair of fishing facilities

(1) The appropriate Minister may, upon such terms and subject to such conditions as he may, with the approval of the Treasury, determine, give to a public authority or an association of persons or company not trading for profit assistance by way of grant or by way of loan, or partly in the one way and partly in the other, in respect of expenses incurred by them for the purposes of the execution of works for the construction, improvement or repair of a harbour, pier, quay, jetty, boatslip or slipway in Great Britain, the landward approaches thereto or any buildings, structures or apparatus thereat which appear to the appropriate Minister to be requisite for the efficient functioning thereof, if the appropriate Minister is satisfied that the giving of the assistance will promote the maintenance or development of the fishing industry.

(2) Assistance given under the foregoing subsection in respect of the execution of any works may include a sum in respect of costs incurred in or in connection with the preparation of plans and specifications of the works, reports with respect thereto and estimates of the expenses to be incurred for the purposes of the execution thereof and a sum in respect of the remuneration of any architect, engineer or other person employed in an advisory or supervisory capacity in connection with the execution of the works; and where an application under the foregoing subsection to the appropriate Minister for assistance is refused, he may, notwithstanding the refusal, if he is satisfied that, in all the circumstances, it is proper so to do, make a payment in respect of costs incurred in or in connection with the preparation of plans and specifications of the works to which the application related, reports with respect thereto and estimates of the expenses to be incurred for the purposes of the execution of those works.

(3) Where assistance in respect of expenses incurred for the purposes of the execution of any works has been given under subsection (1) of this section by the appropriate Minister by way of loan, he may, with the consent of the Treasury, remit (wholly or in part) the payment of interest on, or the repayment of the principal of, the loan, or both, if he is satisfied that payment of the interest or repayment of the principal, or both, as the case may be, cannot be made in full or cannot be made in full without undue hardship.

(4) In this section the expression " the appropriate Minister " means—

(a) as regards works executed or proposed to be executed in England or Wales, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries;

(b) as regards works executed or proposed to be executed in Scotland, the Secretary of State.