
1 
The scheme set out in the Schedule to this Order
                    shall take effect on the 18th day of February, 1954.
2 
The Interpretation Act,
                        1889, shall apply to the interpretation of
                    this Order as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of
                    Parliament.
3 
This Order may be cited as “The Railway Clearing House Scheme
                    Order, 1954”.
Given under the Official Seal of the Minister of Transport and Civil
                    Aviation this fourth day of February, 1954.
Alan Lennox-Boyd
The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation

SCHEDULE



                    RAILWAY CLEARING HOUSE
                    

PART l
1 
This Scheme may be cited as the Railway Clearing House
                                Scheme, 1954.
2 

(1) In this Scheme, unless the context otherwise requires,
                                    expressions to which meanings are assigned by the
                                            Transport Act,
                                            1947, have the same
                                    respective meanings, and—
 “the Clearing
                                            House” means the Railway Clearing House incorporated by the
                                                  Railway Clearing
                                                  Committee Incorporation Act,
                                                  1897;
 “the
                                            Commission” means the British Transport Commission and any
                                            reference to the Commission in relation to any functions
                                            of the Commission which are for the time being delegated
                                            to an Executive in pursuance of
                                                  Section
                                                  5 of the
                                                  Transport Act,
                                                  1947, shall be
                                            construed as a reference to that
                                        Executive;
 “the
                                            Corporation” means the Railway Clearing System Superannuation
                                            Fund Corporation constituted by
                                                  Section
                                                  2 of the
                                                  Railway Clearing System
                                                  Superannuation Fund Incorporation Act,
                                                  1897;
 “the
                                            Council” means the Council constituted by this
                                            Scheme;
 “the date of
                                            transfer” means the Monday immediately following the
                                            expiration of a period of 3 months from the date on
                                            which this Scheme takes
                                        effect;
 “the
                                            Fund” means the Railway Clearing System Superannuation
                                            Fund;
 “the Fund
                                            Acts” means the Railway Clearing System Superannuation Fund Acts,
                                            1873 to 1948;
 “Irish
                                            Contributing Bodies” means
                                            the County Donegal Railways Joint
                                            Committee, the Great Northern Railway Board, the
                                            clearing house committee mentioned in the
                                                  Clearing Act
                                                  (Ireland), 1860,
                                            and the Ulster Transport
                                        Authority;
 “a member of the
                                            Clearing House” means a delegate appointed in accordance with the
                                            provisions of the Railway
                                                  Clearing House Scheme,
                                                1922;
 “the
                                            Minister” means the Minister of Transport and Civil
                                            Aviation;
 “the
                                            Rules” means the Rules of the Fund;
 “the special
                                            provisions” means such of the provisions of the Fund Acts and
                                            the Rules as are specified in the
                                                  Second
                                                  Schedule to this
                                            Scheme.
(2) The Interpretation Act,
                                            1889, shall apply to the
                                    interpretation of this Scheme as it applies to the
                                    interpretation of an Act of Parliament.
(3) Any reference in this Scheme to any enactment shall be
                                    construed as a reference to that enactment as applied, extended,
                                    amended or varied by or by virtue of any subsequent
                                    enactment.
PART II
3 
Subject to the provisions of this Scheme, all the property of
                                the Clearing House immediately before the date of transfer shall on
                                that date vest in the Commission and, as from the date of transfer,
                                the Commission shall have all the rights and powers and be subject
                                to all the liabilities (other than the rights, powers and
                                liabilities specified in Clause 7 of this Scheme) which the Clearing
                                House had or to which the Clearing House were subject immediately
                                before the date of transfer.
4 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Scheme, every agreement
                                    to which the Clearing House were a party, whether in writing or
                                    not and whether or not of such nature that rights and
                                    liabilities thereunder could be assigned by the Clearing House,
                                    shall, unless its terms or subject matter make it impossible
                                    that it should have effect as modified in the manner provided by
                                    this subclause, have effect as from the date of transfer as
                                    if—
(a) the Commission had been a party to the agreement;
                                        and
(b) for any reference (however worded and whether express
                                        or implied) to the Clearing House, there were substituted,
                                        as respects anything falling to be done on or after the date
                                        of transfer, a reference to the Commission; and
(c) any reference (however worded and whether express or
                                        implied) to, or to any part of, or to any sum determined by
                                        reference to, any profits or receipts of the undertaking of
                                        the Clearing House, were, as respects profits or receipts
                                        arising on or after the date of transfer, a reference to, or
                                        to the corresponding part of, or to sum similarly determined
                                        by reference to, an estimate of what those profits or
                                        receipts would have been but for the transfer;
                                        and
(d) any reference (however worded and whether express or
                                        implied) to the members or any member of the Clearing House
                                        were, as respects anything falling to be done on or after
                                        the date of transfer, a reference to such person as the
                                        Commission may appoint; and
(e) any reference (however worded and whether express or
                                        implied) to any officer or servant of the Clearing House
                                        were, as respects anything falling to be done on or after
                                        the date of transfer, a reference to such person as the
                                        Commission may appoint or, in default of appointment, to the
                                        officer or servant of the Commission who corresponds as
                                        nearly as may be to the first mentioned officer servant;
                                        and
(f) in the case of an agreement for the rendering of
                                        personal services to the Clearing House, the services to
                                        which the agreement relates were, on and after the date of
                                        transfer, any reasonably comparable service under the
                                        Commission, to be selected by the Commission;
                                        and
(g) save as provided by the four last preceding
                                        paragraphs, any reference (however worded and whether
                                        express or implied) to the undertaking of the Clearing House
                                        were, as respects the period beginning with the date of
                                        transfer, a reference to so much of the undertaking of the
                                        Commission as corresponds to the undertaking of the Clearing
                                        House:Provided that any agreement to which the Clearing
                                            House were a party which cannot have effect as modified
                                            in the manner provided by this sub-clause by reason only
                                            that, if it were so modified, no person other than the
                                            Commission would have rights or liabilities thereunder
                                            shall cease to have effect as respects anything falling
                                            to be done on or after the date of transfer.
(2) The provisions of the last preceding subclause (except
                                    paragraphs (a) and (b) thereof) shall apply in relation
                                    to any statutory provision (other than the statutory provisions
                                    repealed by this Scheme), any provision of any agreement to
                                    which the Clearing House were not a party, and any provision of
                                    any other document not being an agreement, as they apply in
                                    relation to an agreement to which the Clearing House were a
                                    party, and, in relation to any such statutory or other provision
                                    as aforesaid, the references in paragraphs (b), (c), (d),
                                        (e), and (g) of that subclause to the
                                    Clearing House, to any profits or receipts of the undertaking of
                                    the Clearing House, to any members, officers or servants of the
                                    Clearing House, and to the undertaking of the Clearing House
                                    include references made by means of a general reference to a
                                    class of persons of which the Clearing House are one, without
                                    the Clearing House being specifically referred to:Provided that—
(a) nothing in the last preceding subclause shall
                                            apply in relation to the special provisions or to any
                                            provision of any agreement or other document to which
                                            subclause (2) of Clause 7 of this Scheme
                                            applies;
(b) any reference in the Rules to the premises of the
                                            Clearing House shall, as respects anything falling to be
                                            done on or after the date of transfer, be construed as a
                                            reference to such place as the Council may from time to
                                            time appoint.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding
                                    provisions of this clause, where, by the operation of any of the
                                    said provisions, any right or liability becomes a right or
                                    liability of the Commission, the Commission and all other
                                    persons shall, as from the date of transfer, have the same
                                    rights, powers and remedies (and in particular the same rights
                                    and powers 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 or liability as
                                    they would have had if it had at all times been a right or
                                    liability of the Commission, and any legal proceedings or
                                    applications to any authority pending on the date of transfer by
                                    or against the Clearing House, in so far as they relate to any
                                    property, right or liability transferred to the Commission under
                                    this clause, or to any agreement, statutory provision or
                                    document which has effect in accordance with subclause (1) or
                                    subclause (2) of this clause, shall be continued by or against
                                    the Commission to the exclusion of the Clearing
                                    House.
(4) Where any property or rights vest in or are transferred
                                    to the Commission under Clause 3 of this Scheme or would so vest
                                    or be so transferred but for the fact that transfers thereof are
                                    governed otherwise than by the law of any part of Great Britain,
                                    the Clearing House shall comply with such directions as may be
                                    given to them by the Commission for the purpose of securing that
                                    the ownership of the property or, as the case may be, that the
                                    right, is effectively transferred to the Commission.
5 

(1) The provisions of this Scheme which direct that
                                    liabilities of the Clearing House shall become, as from the date
                                    of transfer, liabilities of the Commission shall apply in
                                    relation to customary obligations of the Clearing House in
                                    relation to pensions of officers or servants employed by the
                                    Clearing House notwithstanding that the Clearing House were
                                    under no legal obligation in respect of those pensions; and if
                                    any question arises as to the existence or extent of any such
                                    customary obligation, the question shall, in default of
                                    agreement, be referred for determination to 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 the decision of that referee or
                                    board shall be final and the Commission shall give effect to
                                    that decision.
(2) The Minister of Labour and National Service may, with the
                                    consent of the Treasury, pay, out of monies provided by
                                    Parliament,—
(a) to any referee or to the members of any board of
                                        referees appointed by him under subclause (1) of this clause
                                        such fees and allowances as he may with the consent of the
                                        Treasury determine; and
(b) to persons giving evidence before any such referees
                                        or board such allowances as he may with the consent of the
                                        Treasury determine.
(3) Nothing in the Arbitration
                                            Act, 1950, shall be
                                    construed as applying any proceedings before a referee or board
                                    of referees appointed under subclause (1) of this clause by the
                                    Minister of Labour and National Service.
PART III
6 
There shall be a body to be called the Council of the Railway
                                Clearing System Superannuation Fund which shall be a body corporate
                                with perpetual succession and a common seal, and the provisions of
                                the First
                                    Schedule to this Scheme shall
                                have effect with respect to the membership of, and otherwise in
                                relation to, the Council.
7 

(1) As from the date of transfer, the Council shall, to the
                                    exclusion of the Clearing House and any other body, have all
                                    rights and powers and be subject to all liabilities which the
                                    Clearing House had or to which the Clearing House were subject,
                                    immediately before the date of transfer, under or by virtue of
                                    the special provisions.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Scheme, the special
                                    provisions, and so much of the provisions of any agreement, or
                                    of any other document not being an agreement as relates or
                                    refers to any right, power or liability of the Clearing House to
                                    which the last preceding subclause applies shall, unless the
                                    terms or subject matter thereof make it impossible that the same
                                    should have effect as modified in the manner provided in this
                                    subclause, have effect as from the date of transfer as
                                    if—
(a) for any reference (however worded and whether express
                                        or implied) to the Clearing House there were substituted, as
                                        respects anything falling to be done on or after the date of
                                        transfer, a reference to the Council; and
(b) any reference (however worded and whether express or
                                        implied) to the members or any member of the Clearing House
                                        were, as respects anything falling to be done on or after
                                        the date of transfer, a reference to the members of the
                                        Council or to such person as the Council may
                                        appoint.
PART IV
8 
Where the Clearing House have complied with any directions
                                given to them by the Commission for the purpose of securing that the
                                ownership of any property or any right is effectively transferred to
                                the Commission and ascertained that the Commission do not desire to
                                give them any further such directions, the Clearing House shall
                                notify the Minister; and if the Minister is satisfied (whether any
                                such notice has been given by the Clearing House or not) that any
                                direction given as aforesaid have been complied with and that the
                                Commission do not desire to give any further such directions, the
                                Minister shall give a certificate that there is no reason for the
                                continued existence of the Clearing House, and shall cause the
                                certificate to be published in the London, Edinburgh and (belfast)
                                Gazettes, and upon the publication thereof the Clearing House shall
                                be dissolved.
9 
The statutory provisions specified in the
                                        Third
                                        Schedule to this Scheme are
                                repealed as from the date of transfer to the extent specified in the
                                third column of the said Schedule:
Provided that, during the period beginning with the date
                                    of transfer and ending with the dissolution of the Clearing
                                    House, the said repeal shall not take effect in relation to the
                                    Clearing House so far as the powers conferred by the said
                                    provisions are required for the remaining purposes of the
                                    Clearing House.
10 
Notwithstanding the repeal of any statutory provision
                                effected by this Scheme, and except only as is by this Scheme
                                otherwise expressly provided, everything done or suffered under or
                                by virtue of the repealed provision before the date on which such
                                repeal takes effect shall be as valid as if such provision had not
                                been repealed, and the repeal thereof and this Scheme respectively
                                shall accordingly be subject and without prejudice to everything so
                                done or suffered, and to all rights, liabilities, debts, claims and
                                demands, both present and future, which, if such provision were not
                                repealed, would be incident to or consequent on any and every such
                                thing so done or suffered.
11 
As from the date of transfer, for
                                        subsection (1) of Section
                                        77 (Accounts returns and
                                statistics) of the Railways Act,
                                        1921, there shall be
                                substituted the following subsection—“

(1) The accounts to be rendered under the
                                                Railway Companies
                                                (Accounts and Returns) Act,
                                            1911, shall be compiled
                                        in such manner as may be determined by the
                                        Minister
”.
                            
12 
The marginal notes to this Scheme and the headings to the
                                Parts of this Scheme have been added for convenience of reference
                                only and shall not be read as forming part of this
                                Scheme.SCHEDULES
                    

FIRST SCHEDULE
1 
The Council shall consist of six members appointed as
                                follows:—
(1) Five members shall be appointed by the
                                    Commission.
(2) One member shall be appointed by the Irish Contributing
                                    Bodies:Provided always that the proportions in which the
                                        said six members of the Council are to be appointed by the
                                        Commission and the Irish Contributing Bodies respectively
                                        may from time to time be varied by agreement between the
                                        Commission and the Irish Contributing Bodies.
2 
The first members of the Council shall hold office from the
                                date of transfer until the next ensuing Annual General Meeting of
                                the Corporation and thereafter members of the Council shall be
                                appointed annually at the date of the Annual General Meeting of the
                                Corporation and shall hold office until the next Annual General
                                Meeting of the Corporation.
3 
Any member of the Council shall, on ceasing to be such a
                                member, be eligible for re-appointment.
4 
Any vacancy in the Council occurring otherwise than by
                                expiration of term of office shall be filled by the appointment of a
                                new member of the Council by the body who appointed the person who
                                has so ceased to be a member and such new member shall hold office
                                until the next Annual General Meeting of the
                                Corporation.
5 
The Council may act notwithstanding any vacancy among the
                                members thereof and the quorum, procedure and place of meeting of
                                the Council shall be such as the Council may determine.
6 
The Council shall appoint its own Chairman and
                                Secretary.
7 
Every document purporting to be an instrument issued or
                                sealed by the Council shall be authenticated by the Secretary of the
                                Council or some other person authorised in that behalf by the
                                Council.
SECOND SCHEDULE

The Railway Clearing System Superannuation
                                        Fund Association Act,
                                        1873—Sections
                                        4,
                                        11,
                                        13 and
                                        20.
The Railway Clearing System
                                        Superannuation Fund Incorporation Act,
                                        1897—Sections
                                        2,
                                        6 and
                                        8.
The following General Rules made pursuant to the
                                        Railway Clearing System
                                        Superannuation Fund Association Act,
                                        1873, that is to say,
                                        Rules 22A,
                                        25 (except
                                so much of that rule as refers to contributing members in the
                                service of the Clearing House),
                                        30,
                                        32,
                                        35,
                                        40,
                                        44 and
                                        45.
Rule
                                    6 of the Supplemental Rules made
                                pursuant to the Railway Clearing System
                                        Superannuation Fund Association Act,
                                        1873.

THIRD SCHEDULE


Session and Chapter Short Title Extent of Repeal
13 & 14 Vict. c. xxxiii. 
                                                  
                                                  Railway Clearing Act,
                                                  1850
                                                  
                                                 The whole Act.
37 & 38 Vict. c. xvi. Railway
                                                  Clearing House Extension Act,
                                                  1874. The whole Act.
60 & 61 Vict. c. cxvi. Railway
                                                  Clearing Committee Incorporation Act,
                                                  1897. The whole Act.
11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55. 
                                                  
                                                  Railways Act,
                                                  1921
                                                  
                                                 Subsection (1), (2) and (3)
                                                  of Section
                                                  14.
— Railway
                                                  Clearing House Scheme,
                                                  1922. The whole Scheme.
