Electricity Act 1947

55Compensation to officers in connection with transfers.

(1)The Minister and the Secretary of State jointly shall by regulations require every Electricity Board to pay, in such cases and to such extent as may be specified in the regulations, compensation to officers of any body whose property, rights, liabilities and obligations vest by virtue of this Act in the Board and officers employed whole-time for the purpose of administering undertakings or parts of undertakings of authorised undertakers, being officers who suffer loss of employment or loss or diminution of emoluments or pension rights or whose position is worsened in consequence of the vesting, or in consequence of the subsequent transfer to another Electricity Board or the subsequent disposal in any other manner, of any such property, rights, liabilities or obligations.

(2)The Minister shall also, in such cases and to such extent as may be specified in the regulations, by regulations require the Central Authority to pay compensation to—

(a)members of the Central Electricity Board, and

(b)Electricity Commissioners and officers of the Electricity Commissioners,

who suffer loss of employment or loss or diminution of emoluments or pension rights or whose position is worsened in consequence of the dissolution of the Central Electricity Board or, as the case may be, the Electricity Commissioners, by or under this Act.

(3)Regulations made under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section shall, in such cases and to such extent as may be specified in the regulations, extend to persons who would have been within the said subsection (1) or, as the case may be, the said subsection (2) but for any war service in which they have been engaged.

In this subsection the expression " war service " means service in any of His Majesty's forces and. such other employment as may be specified in the regulations.

(4)Different regulations may be made under this section in relation to different classes of persons, and any such regulations may be so framed as to have effect as from a date prior to the making thereof, so, however, that so much of any regulations as provides that any provision thereof is to have effect as from a date earlier than the making thereof shall not place any person other than an Electricity Board in a worse position than he would have been in if the regulations had been made to have effect only as from the date of the making thereof.

(5)Regulations made under this section—

(a)shall prescribe the procedure to be followed in making claims for compensation, and the manner in which and the person by whom the question whether any or what compensation is payable is to be determined; and

(b)may in particular contain provisions enabling appeals from any determination as to whether any or what compensation is payable to be brought, in such cases and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the regulations, before a referee or board of referees appointed by the Minister of Labour and National Service, after consultation with the Lord Chancellor or where the proceedings are to be held in Scotland, after consultation with the Secretary of State,

and where any such provision is made as is specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection, the decision of the referee or board of referees shall be final.

(6)Nothing in this section shall be construed as enabling regulations to be made prejudicing the rights of any person under section sixteen of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1919, or under section fifteen of and the Fourth Schedule to the [16 & 17 Geo. 5. c. 51.] Electricity (Supply) Act, 1926, or under the Compensation of Displaced Officers (War Service) (Electricity Undertakings) Order, 1946, being rights' arising in consequence of events which occurred before the vesting date.

References to the said sections and Schedule shall be construed as including references to those sections and that Schedule as applied by any other enactment, with or without modifications and adaptations.

(7)No regulations shall be made under this section unless a draft thereof has been laid before Parliament and has been approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

(8)The Minister of Labour and National Service may, with the consent of the Treasury, pay out of moneys provided by Parliament—

(a)to any referee or to the members of any board of referees appointed by him under this section or the last foregoing section such fees and allowances as he may with the consent of the Treasury determine; and

(b)to persons giving evidence before any such referee or board such allowances as he may with the consent of the Treasury determine.