Crown Agents Act 1979

• Citation: 1979 c. 43
• Sections: 88

Section 1 Reconstitution of Crown Agents as body corporate.

(1) On such day as the Minister may by order appoint (in this Act referred to as “ the appointed day ”)—

(a) there shall come into being a body corporate named the Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations which shall function under and in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and

(b) the term of office of each of the unincorporated Agents shall expire, but without prejudice to his eligibility for appointment under this section to membership of the Crown Agents for a term of office beginning on that day.

(2) In this Act—

(a) “ the Crown Agents ” means the body corporate established by this section;

(b) “ the unincorporated Agents ” means the persons for the time being holding office under the Crown as Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations; and

(c) “ the Minister ” means the Minister of Overseas Development.

(3) The Crown Agents shall consist of not less than six nor more than ten members appointed by the Minister; and the Minister shall appoint one member to be the chairman, and another member to be the deputy chairman, of the Crown Agents.

(4) Any appointment under subsection (3) may be on either a full-time or a part-time basis.

(5) The Crown Agents, despite their name—

(a) are to be regarded as agents of the Crown only in so far as they act as agents of the Crown by virtue of any provision of this Act expressly authorising them to do so; and

(b) are not to be regarded as servants of the Crown or as enjoying any status, privilege or immunity of the Crown,

and their property is not to be regarded as property of, or held on behalf of, the Crown; but nothing in this Act shall be taken to derogate from any privilege, immunity or exemption of the Crown in relation to any matter as respects which the Crown Agents act as agents of the Crown by virtue of any such provision as is mentioned in paragraph (a).

(6) Schedule 1 shall have effect with respect to the Crown Agents.

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Section 25 The Crown Agents Holding and Realisation Board.

(1) On the appointed day there shall come into being a body corporate named the Crown Agents Holding and Realisation Board (in this Act referred to as “ the Board ”) which shall function under and in accordance with the provisions of this section and Schedule 5 and such of the other provisions of this Act as (by virtue of that Schedule or otherwise) apply in relation to the Board.

(2) The Board shall consist of not less than two nor more than ten members appointed by the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State shall appoint one member to be the chairman, and another member to be the deputy chairman, of the Board.

(3) Subject to the provisions of Schedule 5, it shall be the duty of the Board, acting in accordance with such instructions as may from time to time be given by the Minister under paragraph 21 of that Schedule—

(a) to secure the realisation of the Board’s assets and the assets of the Board’s subsidiaries and the application of the proceeds in or towards discharging the liabilities of the Board and their subsidiaries;

(b) to secure that while any particular asset of the Board or any of the Board’s subsidiaries remains unrealised, it is held and managed as advantageously as is consistent with its eventual realisation; and

(c) to discharge the liabilities of the Board and of each of their subsidiaries so far as not discharged in pursuance of paragraph (a).

(4) The Board are not to be regarded as servants or agents of the Crown or as enjoying any status, privilege or immunity of the Crown, and their property is not to be regarded as property of, or held on behalf of, the Crown.

(5) Schedule 5 shall have effect with respect to the Board, their powers and duties, and their eventual dissolution.

Section 26 Position with respect to recoverable grants paid to unincorporated Agents.

(1) The liability of the unincorporated Agents to make, at the direction of the Minister, repayments in respect of the sums totalling £175 million paid to them by the Minister by way of recoverable grant (that is to say the sums of £85 million and £90 million so paid on 24th December 1974 and 28th March 1978 respectively) shall cease on the day before the appointed day, and shall accordingly not become a liability of the Crown Agents or the Board.

(2) If for any accounting year—

(a) there is an excess of revenue of the Board over the total sums properly chargeable by the Board to revenue account; and

(b) under paragraph 14(2) of Schedule 5 the Minister has power to direct the Board to pay the whole or a part of that excess into the Consolidated Fund,

then, in deciding whether to give the Board such a direction, the Minister shall have regard to the fact that the sum of £175 million mentioned in subsection (1) would have been recoverable at his direction but for that subsection.

Section 27 Exemptions.

(1) The Board and every wholly owned subsidiary of the Board shall be exempt from corporation tax.

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(3) The provisions of the Moneylenders Act 1900 to 1927 and the Moneylenders Acts (Northern Ireland) 1900 to 1969 shall not apply—

(a) to . . .the Board; or

(b) to any body corporate the whole of whose issued share capital is held by or on behalf of the Board.

Section 29 Administrative expenses.

Any administrative expenses incurred by the Minister in connection with the provisions of this Act shall be defrayed out of money provided by Parliament.

Section 30 Orders, regulations and consents.

(1) An order or regulations made by the Minister under any provision of this Act—

(a) may make different provision in relation to different cases or circumstances;

(b) may make the consent or approval of the Minister material for the purposes of any provision of the order or regulations; and

(c) may contain such supplementary, incidental and transitional provisions as appear expedient to the Minister.

(2) Any power of the Minister to make an order under any provision of this Act shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

(3) Any order made under any provision of this Act, except—

(a) an order under section 1(1) . . .or paragraph 24(2) of Schedule 5; and

(b) an order which is required to be laid before Parliament or the House of Commons in draft,

shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(4) Any consent given by the Minister under this Act—

(a) may be given either generally or so as to apply only to the doing of specified things by or in relation to specified persons;

(b) may, if given generally, be revoked by the Minister; and

(c) may in any case be given either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit.

(5) Where any body corporate is given power by or under this Act to do something only with the consent of the Minister, then, if that consent is given subject to conditions, the body corporate shall not have power to do anything by virtue of that consent except in accordance with the conditions.

Section 31 Interpretation.

(1) In this Act—

“ acounting year ” means, . . . a period of twelve months ending with the 31st December in any year;

“ the appointed day ” means the day appointed by the Minister under section 1(1);

“ the Board ” means the Crown Agents Holding and Realisation Board;

. . .

“ the Crown Agents ” means the body corporate established by section 1;

. . .

“ functions ” includes powers and duties;

“ the Minister ” means the Minister of Overseas Development;

“ pension ”, in relation to any person, means a pension, whether contributory or not, of any kind whatever payable to or in respect of him, and includes an allowance or a gratuity so payable (whether on retirement or otherwise) and a return of contributions to a pension fund or of insurance premiums, with or without interest or any other addition;

“ performance ”, in relation to functions, includes the exercise of powers as well as the performance of duties, and “ perform ” shall be construed accordingly;

“ regulations ” means regulations made by the Minister with the approval of the Treasury;

. . .

“ subsidiary ” shall be construed in accordance with section 736 of the Companies Act 1985 or Article 4 of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 , and “ wholly owned subsidiary ” shall be construed in accordance with section 736(2) of the Companies Act 1985 or Article 4(2) of that Order of 1986 ;

“ the unincorporated Agents ” has the meaning given by section 1(2)(b).

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(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4) Any provision of this Act conferring a power to give directions or instructions shall be construed as imposing, on any person to whom directions or instructions are given thereunder, a duty to comply with those directions or instructions.

Section 32 Consequential amendments, transitional provisions and repeals.

(1) The enactment mentioned in Part I of Schedule 6 shall have effect as from the appointed day subject to the amendments there specified (being amendments consequential on the provisions of this Act).

(2) This Act shall have effect subject to the transitional provisions contained in Part II of Schedule 6.

(3) The enactments mentioned in Schedule 7 are hereby repealed as from the appointed day to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

Section 33 Citation and extent.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Crown Agents Act 1979.

(2) This Act extends to Northern Ireland.

Section 1

It shall be the duty of the Minister—

(a) to satisfy himself, before he appoints a person to be a member of the Crown Agents, that he will have no such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially the performance of his functions as a member; and

(b) to satisfy himself from time to time with respect to each member that he has no such interest;

and a person who is a member or whom the Minister proposes to appoint as a member shall, whenever requested by the Minister to do so, furnish the Minister with such information as he may specify with a view to carrying out his duty under this paragraph.

Section 2

Subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, a person shall hold and vacate office as a member or the chairman or deputy chairman of the Crown Agents in accordance with the terms of the instrument appointing him to that office.

Section 3

A person may at any time resign his office as a member or the chairman or deputy chairman by giving to the Minister a signed notice in writing stating that he resigns that office.

Section 4

Where a member becomes or ceases to be the chairman or deputy chairman, the Minister may vary the terms of the instrument appointing him a member so as to alter the date on which he is to vacate office as a member.

Section 5

If the chairman or deputy chairman ceases to be a member, he shall cease to be the chairman or deputy chairman, as the case may be.

Section 6

(1) If the Minister is satisfied that a member—

(a) has been absent from meetings of the Crown Agents for a period longer than three consecutive months without the permission of the Crown Agents; or

(b) has become bankrupt or made an arrangement with his creditors; or

(c) is incapacitated by physical or mental illness; or

(d) is otherwise unable or unfit to discharge the functions of a member,

the Minister may declare his office as a member vacant, and shall notify the declaration in such manner as he thinks fit; and thereupon the office shall become vacant.

(2) In the application of sub-paragraph (1) to Scotland, for the references in paragraph (b) to a member’s having become bankrupt and to a member’s having made an arrangement with his creditors there shall be substituted respectively a reference to sequestration of a member’s estate having been awarded and to a member’s having made a trust deed for behoof of his creditors or a composition contract.

Section 7

The Crown Agents shall pay to each of their members . . .such reasonable allowances in respect of expenses as the Minister may determine . . ..

Section 8

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Section 9

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Section 10

The quorum of the Crown Agents and the arrangements relating to their meetings shall be such as the Crown Agents may determine.

Section 11

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Section 12

The validity of any proceedings of the Crown Agents shall not be affected by any vacancy among the members or by any defect in the appointment of a member or by any failure to comply with the requirements of paragraph 11.

Section 13

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Section 14

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Section 15

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Section 16

The Crown Agents may authorise any member or employee of the Crown Agents to perform on behalf of the Crown Agents such of the Crown Agents’ functions (including the power conferred on the Crown Agents by this paragraph) as are specified in the authorisation.

Section 17

The fixing of the common seal of the Crown Agents shall be authenticated by the signature of their secretary or some other person authorised by them to act for that purpose.

Section 18

(1) A document purporting to be duly executed under the seal of the Crown Agents shall be received in evidence and shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be so executed.

(2) A document purporting to be signed on behalf of the Crown Agents shall be received in evidence and shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be so signed.

Section 1

In this Schedule “ the former Agents ” means the persons who at any material time before the appointed day held office under the Crown (whether as the Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations or by any other name) as the persons appointed to act as agents or trustees for oversea governments and administrations.

Section 2

Every agreement to which the former Agents or any of them in their capacity as such were a party immediately before the appointed day, whether in writing or not and whether or not of such nature that rights, liabilities and obligations under it could be assigned by the former Agents or any of them, shall have effect as from that day as if—

(a) the Crown Agents had been a party to the agreement;

(b) for any reference (however worded, and whether express or implied) to the former Agents or any of them there were substituted, as respects anything falling to be done on or after the appointed day, a reference to the Crown Agents; and

(c) for any reference (however worded, and whether express or implied) to any member or officer of the former Agents, not being a party to the agreement and beneficially interested therein, there were substituted, as respects anything falling to be done on or after the appointed day, a reference to such person as the Crown Agents may appoint, or, in default of appointment, to the member or officer of the Crown Agents who corresponds as nearly as may be to the member or officer of the former Agents.

Section 3

(1) Every agreement, whether in writing or not, and every document (not being an agreement to which paragraph 2 applies or an enactment) which refers whether specifically or generally to the former Agents or any of them in their capacity as such shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of that paragraph so far as applicable.

(2) The agreements to which sub-paragraph (1) applies include any agreement to which paragraph 2 would apply but for the fact that rights, liabilities or obligations under it which were previously vested in one of the former Agents as a party to the agreement are, immediately before the appointed day, vested in a person who is not a party to the agreement.

Section 4

Without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs 2 and 3, where any right, liability or obligation vests in the Crown Agents by virtue of this Act, the Crown Agents and all other persons shall, as from the appointed day, have the same rights, powers and remedies (and, in particular, the same rights as to the taking or resisting of legal proceedings or the making or resisting of applications to any authority) for ascertaining, perfecting or enforcing that right, liability or obligation as they would have had if it had at all times been a right, liability or obligation of the Crown Agents.

Section 5

Without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs 2 and 3, any legal proceedings or applications to any authority pending on the appointed day—

(a) by the Crown in connection with the unincorporated Agents, or by the unincorporated Agents; or

(b) against—

(i) the Crown in connection with the unincorporated Agents or any of them; or

(ii) the former Agents or any of them; or

(iii) any other person as the successor of any of the former Agents,

shall, so far as they relate to any property, right, liability or obligation vesting in the Crown Agents by virtue of this Act or to any agreement or document which has effect in accordance with paragraph 2 or 3, be continued by or against the Crown Agents to the exclusion (where applicable) of the Crown or, as the case may be, the relevant person or persons mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or (b).

Section 6

(1) If any question arises whether any particular item of property or any particular right, liability or obligation vested or will vest in the Crown Agents on the appointed day by virtue of this Act, that question shall be referred to and determined by the Minister.

(2) A certificate issued by or under the authority of the Minister and stating the result of any determination under sub-paragraph (1) shall be conclusive for all purposes.

Section 1

The government of any colony . . . or of any country or territory outside Her Majesty’s dominions in which Her Majesty has jurisdiction in right of Her Government in the United Kingdom.

Section 1

If any question arises whether a particular authority or body is a scheduled authority or body, that question shall be referred to and determined by the Minister.

Section 2

The government of any other country or territory outside the United Kingdom (including, in the case of any territory which is under both a local and a central government, the local as well as the central government).

Section 2

A determination by the Minister under the preceding paragraph—

(a) shall be conclusive for the purposes of this Act; but

(b) may (without prejudice to its previous operation) be revoked by the Minister at any time if satisfied that the authority or body to which it relates has, in consequence of a change in its status or for any other reason, ceased to be or, as the case may be, become a scheduled authority or body.

Section 3

Any department of the Government of the United Kingdom or of the Government of Northern Ireland, and any Minister of the Crown in charge of such a department.

Section 4

Any organisation whose members consist of or include two or more of the following, namely sovereign Powers or the Governments of such Powers.

Section 5

Any non-profit-making authority or body of an international character established by or under any treaty or other international agreement.

Section 6

Any public authority or public body established under the law of—

(a) any part of the United Kingdom; or

(b) any country or territory outside the United Kingdom.

Section 7

Any organisation or body established for charitable purposes.

Section 8

Any body corporate the whole of whose issued share capital is held, directly or through a nominee, by an authority or body within any of paragraphs 1 to 7.

Section 9

Any body corporate for the time being approved by the Minister for the purposes of this paragraph, being a body more than half (but less than the whole) of whose issued share capital is held as mentioned in paragraph 8.

Section 10

The trustees of any pension fund maintained by any authority or body within any of paragraphs 1 to 9.

Section 11

Any body corporate for the time being approved by the Minister for the purposes of this paragraph, being a co-operative established under the law of any country or territory outside the United Kingdom.

Section 1

Procuring movable property of any kind.

Section 2

Making arrangements for and in connection with the conveyance of movable property of any kind to any destination (including arrangements for its insurance and inspection).

Section 3

Obtaining professional advice on projects, and negotiating and making contracts for the preparation of projects and the carrying out of feasibility studies.

Section 4

Acquiring and disposing of land, doing anything in connection with any land, and arranging for anything to be done in connection with any land.