Transport Act 1968

10 General powers of Executive

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Executive for a designated area shall have power—

(i) to carry passengers by road within, to and from that area;

(ii) to carry passengers by any other form of land transport or by any form of water transport (including in either case hovercraft) between places in that area or between such places and any place outside that area but within the permitted distance, that is to say, the following distance from the nearest point on the boundary of that area, namely—

(a) in the case of such an other form of land transport, such distance not exceeding twenty-five miles as may be specified in the order with respect to that area under section 9(1) of this Act or, if no distance is so specified, the distance of twenty-five miles;

(b) in the case of any form of water transport, such distance as may be specified as aforesaid;

(iii) so far as the Executive consider requisite—

(a) in connection with the exercise of their powers under paragraph (i) or (ii) of this subsection, or

(b) in order to avoid an interruption of existing services which would otherwise result from an exercise by them of any of their functions under this Part of this Act,

to carry passengers as mentioned in the said paragraph (i) or (ii) between places outside that area ;

(iv) in any vehicle or vessel used for the carriage of passengers in pursuance of paragraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of this subsection, or in a trailer drawn by any vehicle so used, to carry also luggage and other goods;

(v) to store within that area goods which have been or are to be carried by the Executive, and, so far as any premises provided for the purposes of that or any other part of their business are not required for those purposes, to use them to provide facilities for the storage of other goods;

(vi) to make payments to the Railways Board in respect of railway passenger services provided by the Board for meeting the needs of persons travelling within that area or between places in that area and places outside that area but within the permitted distance for the purposes of paragraph (ii) of this subsection;

(vii) with the approval of the Authority, to make arrangements with any person providing passenger transport services by air for the provision of such services between places in that area or between such places and places outside that area, and to include in such arrangements provision for the making of payments to that person by the Executive ;

(viii) to let passenger vehicles on hire with or without trailers for the carriage of goods;

(ix) where an undertaking has been—

(a) transferred to the Executive under subsection (1) of section 17 of this Act; or

(b) wholly or partly resumed by the Executive under subsection (2)(b) of the said section 17; or

(c) acquired by the Executive otherwise than under the said section 17,

to carry on (but, in a case falling within sub-paragraph (c) of this paragraph, only with the approval of the Authority) any activities which the Executive would not otherwise have power to carry on but which were carried on by that undertaking immediately before the date of that transfer, the date of the disposal which gave rise to that resumption, or the date of that acquisition, as the case may be;

(x) in places where persons using the services and facilities provided by the Executive may require them, to provide both for those and other persons facilities for the purchase and consumption of food and drink, places of refreshment and such other amenities or facilities as it may appear to the Executive requisite or expedient to provide ;

(xi) at any place where the Executive, in the exercise of their powers under paragraph (x) of this subsection, provide a car park, to repair motor vehicles for any persons, and to sell to any persons petrol, oil and spare parts and accessories for motor vehicles, whether or not those persons are using the car park;

(xii) to provide interchange facilities for the purpose of enabling passengers travelling by one means of transport to continue their journey by another;

(xiii) subject to section 15(2) of this Act, to demand, take and recover or waive such charges for the services and facilities provided by them, and to make the use of those services and facilities subject to such terms and conditions, as they think fit, so, however, that, without prejudice to any other limitation on the power conferred by this paragraph subsisting by virtue of subsection (7) of this section, this paragraph shall not be construed as entitling the Executive to carry passengers by any form of land or water transport on terms or conditions which—

(a) purport, whether directly or indirectly, to exclude or limit their liability in respect of the death of, or bodily injury to, any passenger; or

(b) purport, whether directly or indirectly, to prescribe the time within which or the manner in which any such liability may be enforced ;

(xiv) to construct, manufacture, produce, purchase, maintain and repair anything required for the purposes of their business;

(xv) to enter into and carry out agreements with any person for the carrying on by that person, whether as agent for the Executive or otherwise, of any activities which the Executive have power to carry on, and in particular for the provision of combined services for the through carriage of passengers or goods, for the quoting of through rates, and for the pooling of receipts or expenses, to include in any such agreement provision for the making of payments to that person by the Executive, and to enter into any such agreement notwithstanding that it involves the delegation of functions of the Executive under any enactment relating to part of their undertaking;

(xvi) with the approval of the Authority and the consent of the Minister, to make with any person with whom they have entered into an agreement under paragraph (xv) of this subsection for the carrying on by that person of any activities arrangements for the transfer from the Executive to that person in such manner and on such terms as may be provided for by the arrangements of any part of the undertaking or property of the Executive relevant to the carrying on of those activities;

(xvii) to acquire by agreement any undertaking or part of an undertaking if the assets comprised in that undertaking or part are wholly or mainly assets which the Executive require for the purposes of their business ;

(xviii) for the purposes of the business of the Executive, to lend money to, or give a guarantee for the benefit of, any person for the purposes of an undertaking carried on by that person, or, where that person is a body corporate, by any undertaking carried on by a subsidiary of that body corporate;

(xix) for the purposes of the business of the Executive, to form, promote and assist, or join with any other person in forming, promoting and assisting, a company for carrying on any activities which the Executive have power to carry on, and, where that company is a subsidiary of the Executive, to transfer to that company any part of the undertaking or property of the Executive, and to subscribe for or acquire by agreement any securities of any body corporate ;

(xx) to acquire land by agreement—

(a) for the purposes of their business; or

(b) with the approval of the Authority, for the purpose of adding it to and disposing of it with other contiguous land of theirs of which they propose to dispose;

(xxi) to develop their land for the purposes of their business in such manner as they may think fit;

(xxii) with the approval of the Authority—

(a) to develop for use by other persons any part of their land which is not required for the purposes of their business; or

(b) where the use of their land for the purposes of their business can be combined with its use for other purposes, to develop the land by constructing or adapting buildings thereon for use wholly or partly by other persons; and

(c) where they propose to develop any of their land as mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) of this paragraph, to acquire by agreement adjoining land for the purpose of developing it together with the other land, with a view to selling or otherwise disposing of any right or interest in the land or, as the case may be, the buildings or any part of the buildings, after the development is carried out;

(xxiii) subject, in the case of a disposal of land, to the approval of the Authority, to dispose (whether absolutely or for a terms of years) of any property which in their opinion is not required to be retained by them for the purposes of the discharge of their duty under section 9(3) of this Act, and, in particular, to dispose of an interest in, or right over, any property which, subject to the interest or right, is retained by them;

(xxiv) to do anything for the purposes of advancing the skill of persons employed by them or the efficiency of their equipment or of the manner in which that equipment is operated, including the provision by the Executive, and the assistance of the provision by others, of facilities for training, education and research;

(xxv) to provide houses, hostels and other like accommodation for persons employed by them;

(xxvi) to make loans to persons employed by them for the purpose of assisting those persons to acquire housing accommodation, and to guarantee loans made by building societies and other bodies to such persons for that purpose;

(xxvii) to invest any sums which are not immediately required by them for the purposes of their business ;

(xxviii) to turn their resources to account so far as not required for the purposes of their business;

(xxix) with the approval of the Authority, to promote or oppose any Bill in Parliament;

(xxx) to establish and administer pension schemes and pension funds in the interest of persons who are or have been employed by the Executive and to pay pensions to or in respect of such persons, or to enter into and carry into effect agreements or arrangements with any other person for securing or preserving pension rights for such persons;

(xxxi) to provide for any person technical advice or assistance, including research services, as respects any matter in which the Executive have skill or experience;

(xxxii) to do all other things which in their opinion are necessary to facilitate the proper carrying on of their business.

(2) For the purposes of paragraphs (v), (x), (xiv) and (xxiv) to (xxvi) of subsection (1) of this section, goods carried by, services and facilities provided by, things required for the purposes of the business of, and persons employed by, a subsidiary of the Executive or, for the purposes of the said paragraphs (v), (x) and (xiv), by a person providing bus services in the area under an agreement with the Executive or with the consent of the Executive granted under Schedule 6 to this Act shall be deemed to be goods carried by, services and facilities provided by, things required for the purposes of the business of, or persons employed by, that Executive.

(3) If the Authority for a designated area so request in writing, the Minister may authorise the Executive for that area to purchase compulsorily any land which the Executive or any wholly-owned subsidiary of theirs require for the purposes of their business, and the [1946 c. 49.] Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act 1946 shall apply as if the Executive were a local authority within the meaning of that Act, and as if this Act had been in force immediately before the commencement of that Act.

(4) The power of purchasing land compulsorily in subsection (3) of this section shall include power to acquire an easement or other right in, over or under land by the creation of a new right; but this subsection shall not apply to an easement or other right in, over or under any land which would for the purposes of the said Act of 1946 form part of a common, open space or fuel or field garden allotment.

(5) The [1919 c. 75.] Ferries (Acquisition by Local Authorities) Act 1919 shall apply to the Executive for a designated area as if the Executive were within the meaning of that Act a local authority for that area.

(6) Part I of the [1937 c. 28.] Harbours, Piers and Ferries (Scotland) Act 1937 shall apply to the Executive for a designated area as if that area were a county and the Executive were the council of that county.

(7) Each of the powers conferred by the foregoing provisions of this section shall be deemed to be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other of them; but it is hereby declared that those provisions relate only to the capacity of the Executive for a designated area as a statutory corporation and nothing in those provisions shall be construed as authorising the disregard by the Executive of any enactment or rule of law, or any requirement of this Part of this Act as to the approval of the Authority or the consent of the Minister for a particular exercise of any of those powers.

(8) It shall be the duty of an Executive who have a subsidiary to exercise their control over the subsidiary so as to ensure that the subsidiary does not engage in activities in which the Executive have no power to engage (including activities in which the Executive have no power to engage because any requisite consent or approval has not been obtained).

(9) In the application of subsections (3) and (4) of this section to Scotland there shall be substituted—

(a) for the references to the [1946 c. 49.] Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act 1946 references to the [1947 c. 42.] Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) (Scotland) Act 1947; and

(b) for the references to an easement references to a servitude ;

and the reference in the said subsection (4) to a fuel or field garden allotment shall be omitted.