Fisheries Act 1981

Part II U.K. Financial Assistance for Sea Fish Industry

15 Schemes of financial assistance. U.K.

(1) The Ministers may, in accordance with a scheme made by them with the approval of the Treasury, make grants or loans for the purpose of re-organising, developing or promoting the sea fish industry or of contributing to the expenses of those engaged in it.

(2) A scheme under this section may be limited so as to apply to a specified part or area of [F1 England and Wales and Northern Ireland] and may authorise the Ministers to make provision for any purpose specified in the scheme.

(3) A scheme under this section shall be laid before Parliament after being made and shall cease to have effect (without prejudice to anything previously done thereunder or to the making of a new scheme) after the expiration of the period of forty days beginning with the day on which it is made unless within that period it has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(4) In reckoning any period under subsection (3) above no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.

(5) Any scheme in force immediately before the coming into force of this section under section 49 of the M1 Sea Fish Industry Act 1970 (white fish and herring subsidies) shall have effect as if made under this section.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 15 substituted (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/1820, art. 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 68(2); S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 15 certain functions made exercisable (28.3.2002) in or as regards N.I. for the purposes of 1998 c. 47, ss. 6, 86 and transferred by S.I. 2002/790, art. 3(2), Sch. 2 para. 2(2)(3)

C2 S. 15(1) modified (28.3.2002) by S.I. 2002/790, art. 3(2), Sch. 2 para. 2(7)(a)

C3 S. 15(3)(4) excluded (28.3.2002) by S.I. 2002/790, art. 3(2), Sch. 2 para. 2(4)

Marginal Citations

M1 1970 c. 11.

16 Administration of schemes by Sea Fish Industry Authority. U.K.

(1) Without prejudice to section 2(5) above, the Ministers may require the Sea Fish Industry Authority to administer for them any scheme made by them under this Part of this Act and where the Authority has been so required it shall administer the scheme accordingly and may exercise any discretion vested under the scheme in the Ministers.

(2) Any functions of the Authority in relation to a scheme under this Part of this Act shall be discharged by the members appointed under section 1(3) above to the exclusion of the other members.

(3) Where the Authority has been required to administer a scheme under subsection (1) above it shall keep such accounts with respect to payments made by or to it under the scheme as may be directed by the Ministers with the approval of the Treasury and shall prepare in respect of each financial year a statement of the accounts in such form and giving such information as may be so directed.

(4) The accounts for each financial year[F2 ending on or before 31st March 2005] shall, in accordance with a scheme of audit approved by the Ministers, be audited by the persons appointed in respect of that year to audit the other accounts of the Authority and the auditors shall be furnished by the Authority with copies of the statement of accounts.

(5) The auditors shall complete the audit of the accounts[F3 under subsection (4)] and send the Ministers copies of the statement of accounts and of their report on the accounts and the statement as soon as possible after the end of the financial year to which they relate and in any event not later than 30th September following the end of that year; and the Ministers shall lay copies of the statement and report before Parliament.

[F4 (5A) The Sea Fish Industry Authority shall send a copy of the statement of accounts prepared under subsection (3) in respect of each financial year ending on or after 31st March 2006 to the Comptroller and Auditor General as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the financial year to which the statement of accounts relates.

(5B) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on each statement of accounts sent to him by the Authority under subsection (5A) and shall lay before Parliament a copy of the statement and his report on it.]

(6) The Ministers and the Comptroller and Auditor General shall be entitled to inspect all books, papers and other records of the Authority relating to, or to matters dealt with in, the accounts required to be kept pursuant to this section.

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in s. 16(4) inserted (23.5.2003) by Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 (Audit of Public Bodies) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/1326), arts. 1, 10(3)(a)

F3 Words in s. 16(5) inserted (23.5.2003) by Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 (Audit of Public Bodies) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/1326), arts. 1, 10(3)(b)

F4 S. 16(5A)(5B) inserted (23.5.2003) by Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 (Audit of Public Bodies) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/1326), arts. 1, 10(3)(c)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C4 S. 16 certain functions made exercisable (28.3.2002) in or as regards N.I. for the purposes of 1998 c. 47, ss. 6, 86 and transferred by S.I. 2002/790, art. 3(2), Sch. 2 para. 2(2)(3)

C5 S. 16(3) modified (28.3.2002) by S.I. 2002/790, art. 3(2), Sch. 2 para. 2(7)(a)

C6 S. 16(5) excluded (28.3.2002) by S.I. 2002/790, art. 3(2), Sch. 2 para. 2(6)

17 Offences in connection with schemes. U.K.

Any person who—

(a) in furnishing any information in purported compliance with a requirement imposed by a scheme made under this Part of this Act makes a statement which he knows to be false in a material particular or recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular; or

(b) in purported compliance with a requirement imposed by such a scheme produces a document which he knows to be false in a material particular or recklessly produces a document which is false in a material particular; or

(c) wilfully refuses to supply any information, make any return or produce any document when required to do so by or under any such scheme,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F5 level 5 on the standard scale].

Textual Amendments

F5 Words substituted by virtue of (E.W.) Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), s. 46, (S.) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c.21, SIF 39:1), s. 289G and (N.I.) by S.I. 1984/703 (N.I. 3), arts. 5, 6

18 Interpretation of Part II. U.K.

(1) In this Part of this Act—

• “the Ministers” means—

(a) in relation to a scheme not extending outside England, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

(b) in relation to a scheme not extending outside Wales, F6 . . .or Northern Ireland respectively, the Secretary of State concerned with the sea fish industry in that country;

(c) in relation to a scheme extending to the whole or part of two or more of the countries mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) above, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (if those countries include England) and the Secretary of State concerned with the sea fish industry in each of the countries (other than England) to the whole or part of which the scheme extends:

but a scheme made by two or more Ministers may provide for payments under the scheme to be made by any of them;

“sea fish” means fish of any kind found in the sea, including shellfish but not salmon or migratory trout.

(2) For the purposes of this Part of this Act “the sea fish industry” means the sea fish industry in [F7 England and Wales and Northern Ireland] and a person shall be regarded as engaged in the sea fish industry if—

(a) he carries on or is employed in the business of operating vessels for catching or processing sea fish or for transporting sea fish or sea fish products, being vessels registered in the [F7 England and Wales and Northern Ireland]; or

(b) he carries on in [F7 England and Wales and Northern Ireland], or is employed in [F7 England and Wales and Northern Ireland] in, the business of selling sea fish or sea fish products by wholesale or retail, of loading, unloading or the inland transport of sea fish or sea fish products or of processing sea fish (including the business of a fish fryer).

Textual Amendments

F6 Word in s. 18(1) repealed (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/1820, art. 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 68(3), Pt. IV; S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

F7 Words in s. 18(2) substituted (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/1820 art. 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 68(2); S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

[F8 18A

(1) This Part of the Act has effect in relation to Scotland with the following modifications (and any other necessary modifications).

(2) For ”England and Wales and Northern Ireland”, wherever it occurs, there is substituted ”Scotland”.

(3) In sections 15(1) and 16(3) the words ”with the approval of the Treasury” are omitted.

(4) In section 15(3) and (4) and in section 16(5) for any reference to ”Parliament” and to ”each House of Parliament” there is substituted ”the Scottish Parliament”.

(5) In section 15(4)–

(a) for the reference to ”both Houses are” there is substituted ”the Scottish Parliament is”; F9 . . .

(b) the words ”or prorogued” are omitted and.

(c) for ”adjourned” there is substituted ”in recess”.]

(6) In section 16(6), for ”Comptroller and Auditor General” there is substituted ”Auditor General for Scotland”.

(7) In section 18(1), in the definition of ”the Ministers”, from ”(a)” to the end there is substituted ”the Scottish Ministers”.

Textual Amendments

F8 S. 18A inserted (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/1820, art. 4, Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 68(4); S.I. 1998/3178, art. 3

F9 Word in s. 18A(5) repealed (27.7.2000) by S.I. 2000/2040, art. 2, Sch. Pt. I para. 10(2)(a) Pt. III (with art. 3)