Transport Act 1978

National Freight Corporation (finance)

17 Reduction of capital debt

(1) On the day appointed under section 24(1) below for the coming into force of this section, there shall be extinguished so much of the liability of the National Freight Corporation on that day in respect of—

(a) the commencing capital debt of the Corporation under section 3(2) of, and Schedule 2 to, the 1968 Act; and

(b) the principal of money borrowed by the Corporation from the Secretary of State under section 19 of the 1962 Act as applied by section 3(1)(b) of the 1968 Act,

as is necessary to reduce that liability to £100 million.

(2) Of the amount in respect of which the Corporation's liability is extinguished by subsection (1) above, such part as the Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, direct shall be treated as reducing the commencing capital debt of the Corporation and the remainder shall be treated as reducing the principal of money borrowed as mentioned above.

(3) The assets of the National Loans Fund shall accordingly be reduced by the amount in respect of which the Corporation's liability is so extinguished.

18 Capital grants

(1) The Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, out of money provided by Parliament make grants to the National Freight Corporation in respect of any expenditure of a capital nature incurred or to be incurred during the period 1st July 1978 to 31st December 1981 by National Carriers Limited or any of its subsidiaries.

(2) Any grants under this section shall be made on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury determine; and the amounts of the grants shall be determined so that—

(a) the amount for the year 1980 is less than that for the year 1979, and the amount for the year 1981 is less than that for the year 1980; and

(b) the aggregate amount of the grants does not exceed £15 million.

19 Funding of pension obligations

(1) The National Freight Corporation shall, subject to the following provisions of this section, provide the money for funding such of the obligations mentioned in subsection (2) below as may be prescribed, in so far as those obligations have not been funded before the appointed day.

(2) The obligations mentioned in subsection (1) are obligations of N.F.C., N.C.L. and Freightliners Limited which are owed, in connection with any prescribed relevant pension scheme in force on the appointed day, to or in respect of persons who are or have been employed by any of those bodies.

(3) But the obligations which may be prescribed under subsection (1) above shall not include—

(a) any obligation imposed on N.F.C., N.C.L. or Freight liners Limited and resulting from an amendment of a pension scheme made after 1st April 1975, other than an amendment made by virtue of section 74 of the 1962 Act; or

(b) any obligation of N.F.C., N.C.L. or Freightliners Limited arising after that date to pay increases of pensions in excess of those payable, in the case of official pensions, under the [1971 c. 56.] Pensions (Increase) Act 1971 and section 59 of the [1975 c. 60.] Social Security Pensions Act 1975.

(4) The Secretary of State may by order made with the consent of the Treasury prescribe—

(a) the aggregate amount to be provided by the Corporation for funding the prescribed obligations in any prescribed period; and

(b) the manner in which the prescribed aggregate amount is to be apportioned between pension schemes.

(5) The amounts so apportioned shall be debts of N.F.C. to the persons administering the pension scheme in question; and the Secretary of State may by order made with the consent of the Treasury prescribe—

(a) the instalments by which and the dates on which the debts are to be paid off ; and

(b) the rate at which and dates on which interest on the debts is to be paid.

(6) An order made under subsection (5)(a) above may make different provision for different debts; but no order shall be made under that paragraph unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by, the House of Commons.

(7) The Secretary of State shall reimburse the Corporation in respect of any sums paid under this section in respect of the principal of or interest on the debts due by virtue of this section, and any sums required by him for that purpose shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.

20 Provisions supplementary to s. 19

(1) In section 19 above and this section—

• " the appointed day " means a day appointed for the purposes of that section and this section by an order made by the Secretary of State ;etary of State with the consent of the Treasury;

• " prescribed " means prescribed by an order made by the Secretary of State with the consent of the Treasury;

• " pension " and " pension scheme " mean the same as in the 1962 Act and " relevant pension scheme" means—

  (a)

  a pension scheme in relation to which rights, liabilities and functions were conferred or imposed on N.F.C., N.C.L., or Freightliners Limited by an instrument made under or by virtue of any provision of the 1962 Act; or

  (b)

  a pension scheme established by N.F.C, N.C.L., or Freightliners Limited for the provision of pensions for or in respect of persons who are or have at any time been employed by any of those bodies;

and a reference to N.C.L. or to Freightliners Limited shall be read as including a reference to its subsidiaries.

(2) Where at any time, whether before or after the appointed day, N.F.C., N.C.L., or Freightliners Limited make payments in respect of pensions payable under a prescribed pension scheme or increases in such pensions, the body making the payments shall be treated for the purposes of section 19 as being under an obligation at that time to make those payments.

(3) The funding of an obligation under section 19 shall not discharge the obligation so far as it is one to pay pensions or increases of pensions under the relevant pension scheme owed to the person to whom pensions or increases of pensions are or may become payable under the scheme or is an obligation to secure the payment of those pensions or increases.

(4) If the persons administering a prescribed pension scheme have no power to amend the scheme apart from this subsection, they may amend it by instrument in writing for the purpose of bringing it into conformity with any provision of section 19 or this section, or any order under either section; and the power of amending any such scheme apart from this subsection may for that purpose be exercised without regard to any limitations on the exercise of the power and without compliance with any procedural provisions applicable to its exercise.

(5) Where it appears to N.F.C. that there is a doubt as to who are the persons administering a pension scheme, N.F.C. may by instrument in writing specify the persons who are to be treated for the purposes of section 19 and this section as the persons administering it.

(6) Where any obligation of N.F.C., N.C.L. or Freightliners Limited is funded under section 19, or any obligation of the British Railways Board is funded under section 5 of the [1974 c. 48.] Railways Act 1974—

(a) any right of N.F.C., N.C.L. or Freightliners Limited to be indemnified by B.R. in respect of the funded obligation or part of it; or

(b) any right of B.R. to be so indemnified by N.F.C., N.C.L. or Freightliners Limited,

shall be extinguished in proportion to the funding of the obligation.

(7) For the purposes of section 19(3) above and section 5(2) of the [1974 c. 48.] Railways Act 1974 (equivalent provision as to British Rail pension schemes), a scheme shall not be taken to be amended by virtue only of the transfer effected by section 15(1) above or by any provision made by virtue of section 15(3) in consequence of the transfer.

(8) Any power to make an order conferred by section 19 or this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument; and any such instrument (other than one containing an order made by virtue of section 19(5)(a) or one appointing a day for the purposes of section 19 and this section) shall be subject to annulment by a resolution of the House of Commons.

(9) An order under section 19 or this section may by varied or revoked by a subsequent order so made, but no order shall be made under section 19(4) after the end of 1979, except a varying or revoking order under that subsection.

21 Travel concessions for transferred employees

The Secretary of State may, with Treasury approval, out of money provided by Parliament reimburse the National Freight Corporation to such extent as he considers appropriate, and on such terms as he may with that approval determine, in respect of amounts paid by N.F.C., N.C.L. or any subsidiary of N.C.L. to the British Railways Board and the London Transport Executive in connection with travel concessions afforded by them to employees transferred from the employment of the Board under the 1968 Act, or to widows or dependants of such employees.