16(1)Not later than such date as the Secretary of State may determine—
(a)Scottish Enterprise shall make an offer of employment by it to each person employed immediately before that date—
(i)by the Scottish Development Agency;
(ii)by the Training Agency to work wholly or mainly in such part of Scotland as is outwith the area mentioned in section 21(1) of this Act;
(b)Highlands and Islands Enterprise shall make an offer of employment by it to each person employed immediately before that date—
(i)by the Highlands and Islands Development Board;
(ii)by the Training Agency to work wholly or mainly within the area so mentioned,
except that if such a person by written notice to Scottish Enterprise, or as the case may be to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, has intimated that he does not require such an offer of employment to be made by the date so determined and, in the case of a person mentioned in paragraph (a)(ii) or (b)(ii) above, has not elected secondment under sub-paragraph (6) below, such an offer may instead be made under this sub-paragraph at a later date but, subject to sub-paragraph (8) below, shall in any event be so made within seven days of receipt, before the first transfer date by Scottish Enterprise or before the second transfer date by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, of any subsequent written notice from the person requiring that it be made.
(2)In this and the following paragraph “the Training Agency” means the part of the department of the Secretary of State for Employment which is so known, other than so much of that part as is known either as the Skills Training Agency or as the Employment Rehabilitation Service.
(3)The terms of any offer under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be such that they are, taken as a whole, not less favourable to the person to whom the offer is made than the terms on which he is employed on the date on which the offer is made.
(4)Any question as to what persons are employed as mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) above and, in respect of any such person, the body by which an offer is (subject to the exception mentioned in the sub-paragraph) to be made under the sub-paragraph shall be determined by the Secretary of State, whose decision in the matter in question shall be final.
(5)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (3) above, no account shall be taken of the fact that employment with Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise is not employment in the service of the Crown.
(6)Instead of forthwith accepting or declining an offer made to him under sub-paragraph (1)(a)(ii) or (b)(ii) above, or if he has given notice that he does not require such an offer and none has been made, a person may (without prejudice to sub-paragraph (7) below) elect to be seconded to Scottish Enterprise, or as the case may be Highlands and Islands Enterprise, on such terms as the body in question may agree with him and with the Training Agency; but any such secondment shall end not later than three years after—
(a)in the case of secondment to Scottish Enterprise, the first transfer date; and
(b)in the case of secondment to Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the second transfer date,
and if during the period of secondment the person by written notice to Scottish Enterprise, or as the case may be Highlands and Islands Enterprise, requires that such an offer be made (whether or not the secondment followed such an offer), the body in question shall within thirty days of receiving the notice comply with the requirement.
(7)An offer under sub-paragraph (1) above—
(a)where made before the date determined under sub-paragraph (1) above, shall not be revocable during the period of three months commencing with the date on which made;
(b)where made after the date so determined, shall not be revocable before—
(i)in the case of an offer by Scottish Enterprise, the first transfer date;
(ii)in the case of an offer by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the second transfer date,
or, if later, the date thirty clear days after that on which the offer is made,
(c)where it is an offer whose recipient has elected secondment under sub-paragraph (6) above, shall not be revocable during the period of secondment (though it shall be superseded by any subsequent such offer to him).
(8)Any such subsequent written notice as is referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above shall for the purposes of that sub-paragraph be disregarded if the person is, at the time of giving it, no longer an employee of the Scottish Development Agency or as the case may be of the Highlands and Islands Development Board or the Training Agency.