Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977

2General duties of the Corporations

(1)It shall be the duty of British Aerospace, subject to section 7(3) below, to promote and secure the promotion by its wholly owned subsidiaries of—

(a)the efficient and economical design, development, production, sale, repair and maintenance of civil and military aircraft, of guided weapons and of space vehicles; and

(b)research into matters relating thereto.

(2)It shall be the duty of British Shipbuilders to promote and secure the promotion by its wholly owned subsidiaries of—

(a)the efficient and economical design, development, production, sale, repair and maintenance of ships and slow speed diesel marine engines ; and

(b)research into matters relating thereto.

(3)It shall be the duty of each Corporation—

(a)in carrying out its activities to have full regard to the requirements of national defence ; and

(b)to secure that each of its wholly owned subsidiaries, in carrying out its activities, has full regard to those requirements.

(4)It shall be the duty of each Corporation to seek to secure the benefit of the knowledge and experience of persons employed by it and its wholly owned subsidiaries in the organisation and conduct of the tasks in which those persons are employed.

(5)The Secretary of State may, after consultation with a Corporation, by order made by statutory instrument, prescribe in relation to that Corporation—

(a)activities which the Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries are to carry on, either in addition to the activities specified in subsections (1) and (2) above or in substitution for such of those activities as may be specified in the order ; and

(b)objectives of a general character which the Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries are to pursue ; and

(c)conditions of a general character subject to which any activities are to be carried on or any prescribed objectives are to be pursued.

(6)The power to make an order under subsection (5) above includes power to vary or revoke any such order previously made, and no order shall be made under that subsection unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(7)It shall be the duty of each Corporation—

(a)to carry on such activities, to pursue such objectives and in so doing to comply with such conditions as may for the time being be specified in accordance with subsection (5) above; and

(b)to secure that its wholly owned subsidiaries carry on any such activities, pursue any such objectives and comply with any such conditions;

and in the event of any conflict between the duty imposed by this subsection and any duty imposed by the preceding provisions of this section, the duty imposed by this subsection shall prevail.

(8)In carrying out its functions under this Act, it shall be the duty of each Corporation to promote industrial democracy in a strong and organic form in its undertakings and the undertakings of its wholly owned subsidiaries.

(9)It shall be the duty of each Corporation to enter within 3 months of the relevant vesting date into consultation with the relevant trade unions as to the methods which it should adopt for the purpose of carrying out its duty under subsection (8) above.

(10)Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing upon either Corporation, directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable by proceedings before any court.