Coal Act 1938

Section 50.

SEVENTH SCHEDULE Amendments of 20 & 21 Geo. 5. c. 34, ss. 5 and 8

1 After subsection (1) of section five there shall be inserted the following new subsection :—

“(1A) If it appears to the Board of Trade to be expedient that more than one district committee of investigation should be constituted for any district with a view to the investigation of complaints relating to different matters or to different localities by different committees, two or more such committees may be constituted therefor and shall be charged respectively with the duty of investigating any complaint with respect to the operation of the district scheme for that district made in relation to such matters or to such localities as the Board may direct.”

2 In subsection (2) of section five, after the words " Board of Trade ", there shall be inserted the words following— " the " person to be appointed as chairman shall be a member of the " legal profession, ".

3 For subsection (3) of section five there shall be substituted the following subsections :—

“(3) A committee of investigation may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their number.

(3A) The Board of Trade shall cause to be constituted a panel of persons suitable to exercise the functions of the chairman of any committee of investigation in the event of the chairman of any such committee being unable to act on the investigation of any complaint, and in such an event a person shall, in such manner as the Board may direct, be selected from the panel to act as the chairman, and a person so selected for the investigation of any complaint shall, in relation to that investigation, be deemed to be the chairman of the committee, and references in this section to ' the chairman' shall be construed accordingly.

(3B) Upon the occasion of the appointment of a member of a committee of investigation as a representative of any interest, the Board shall, after consultation with such bodies as appear to them to represent that interest, appoint two persons, one of whom shall, in the event of that member being unable to act on the investigation of any complaint, be selected in such manner as the Board may direct to act as the member of the committee representative of that interest and a person so selected for the investigation of any complaint shall, in relation to that investigation, be deemed to be the member of the committee representative of that interest, and references in this section to ' the members' shall be construed accordingly.

(3C) The chairman shall be present at every meeting of a committee of investigation. Any such committee may take evidence on oath, and for that purpose the chairman shall have power to administer an oath. Any evidence taken by a committee shall, except in so far as it relates to any particular business or undertaking or unless the committee for any special reason otherwise decide, be taken in public, and the decision of the committee upon every complaint shah be delivered in public. Subject to the foregoing provisions of this subsection, the meetings and procedure of every committee of investigation shall be regulated in accordance with rules made by the Board of Trade for the purpose.”

4 At the end of subsection (5) of section five the following words shall be added:—

“and the complainant also shall furnish the committee with such returns, accounts and other information as the committee considers relevant to the investigation.”

5 In subsection (7) of section five the words " subject as hereinafter provided " and the proviso to that subsection are hereby repealed.

6 In subsection (8) of section five for the words from "make representations with respect thereto " to the end of the subsection there shall be substituted the words following— " make to the persons having power under the scheme to rectify " the matter such representations as the committee think desirable " for that purpose, and those persons shall exercise their functions " under the scheme in conformity with the representations. "

7 After subsection (8) of section five there shall be inserted the following new subsections :—

“(8A) Where a committee of investigation has given a decision under the last foregoing subsection upon a complaint made with respect to the operation of a scheme, any person aggrieved by the decision, or the executive board charged with the duty of administering the scheme, or the central council, as the case may be, may within fourteen days from the date upon which the decision was given (or within such longer period as the Central Appeal Tribunal may in any particular case allow) refer the matter for arbitration by the Central Appeal Tribunal to be constituted as hereinafter provided.

(8B) The Central Appeal Tribunal shall consist of a chairman and two other members appointed by the Board of Trade, and the Board shall appoint as chairman a member of the legal profession and as the other members persons who appear to the Board to be substantially independent of the coal industry or of any other industry in which large quantities of coal are used, and who are not members, or officers or servants, of an organisation of employers or workpeople in the coal-mining industry, practising mining engineers, or in any other manner directly connected with that industry.

(8C) The Board of Trade shall appoint persons having the same qualifications respectively as are requisite in the case of the chairman and other members of the Central Appeal Tribunal to exercise the functions of the chairman and members of the Tribunal in the event of the chairman or any other member being unable to act on any arbitration, and a person so appointed shall, in relation to any arbitration as respects which he is exercising such functions, be deemed to be the chairman or a member, as the case may be, of the Central Appeal Tribunal, and references in this section to ' the chairman ' and to ' the members ' shall be construed accordingly.

(8D) The Central Appeal Tribunal shall not have power to act exceptin the presence of the chairman and both members thereof. Such of the provisions of subsection (3C) of this section as relate to the power to take, and the taking of, evidence by committees of investigation shall apply with respect to the Central Appeal Tribunal as they apply with respect to such committees. Subject to the preceding provisions of this subsection, the procedure of the Central Appeal Tribunal shall be regulated in accordance with rules made by the Board of Trade for the purpose.

(8E) Upon the hearing of any arbitration by the Central Appeal Tribunal, the council or executive board charged with the duty of administering the relevant scheme shall furnish to the Tribunal such returns, accounts and other information relating to the scheme as the Tribunal considers relevant for the purposes of the arbitration.

(8F) The powers of the Board of Trade under subsection (4) of this section shall extend to the Central Appeal Tribunal in like manner as they extend to committees of investigation, but shall include power to pay such remuneration to the members, as well as to the chairman, of the Central Appeal Tribunal as the Board may, with the approval of the Treasury, determine.”

8 In subsection (9) of section five for the words from the beginning of the subsection to the words " foregoing subsection " there shall be substituted the following words— " After a decision of the committee of investigation or of the Central " Appeal Tribunal as to any complaint has become binding, " the committee or the Central Appeal Tribunal, as the case may " be,"; the words " the arbitrators' decision and " shall be omitted; paragraph (b) of subsection (10) and subsection (11) are hereby repealed.

9 At the end of section five the following subsection shall be inserted:—

“(11) Any appointment to be made by the Board of Trade under this section of a person who is thereby required to be a member of the legal profession shall be made after consultation with the Lord Chancellor, or where the appointment is of the chairman of a district committee of investigation for a district in Scotland, after consultation with the Lord Advocate.”

10 In section eight after the words " executive board " where those words first occur there shah be inserted the words " the Central Appeal Tribunal "; after the words "conferred upon any such committee " there shall be inserted the words " or upon the Central Appeal Tribunal ";

in the proviso to the said section there shall be inserted after the words " the central council " the words " the Central Appeal Tribunal"; and at the end of the said section there shall be added the words following :— " ; and any such information published or disclosed " to the Board of Trade or to the Central Appeal Tribunal or to " any committee of investigation which is relevant to the proceedings upon any inquiry or arbitration or investigation held " by them may be published or disclosed by them to any person " being a party to or otherwise directly concerned in those proceedings, but only in such form as does not disclose information " relating to any particular business or undertaking. "