Transport Arbitration Tribunal

MT 24

1947-1957

This series consists of records of English and Welsh proceedings before the Transport Arbitration Tribunal, together with a tabulated record of the progress of acquisitions of road haulage undertakings by the British Transport Commission and other documents selected for preservation on the dissolution of the Tribunal in 1957.

Records of Scottish proceedings have been deposited with the Scottish Record Office in Edinburgh.

The Tribunal's records fall into the following main categories:

(a) Minutes of Public and Interlocutory Business and of Private Meetings of the Tribunal: Box No.93;

(b) Tabulated Record of the Progress of Acquisition of Road Haulage Undertakings, maintained for the purpose of the Tribunal's functions under Section 110 of the Act: Boxes Nos. 89-91 (Comp. Acquired) Box No. 92 (Vol. Acquired);

(c) General correspondence: Boxes Nos. 95-96;

d) Chronological List kept under Rule 21 of the Tribunal's Rules of Applications under Section 106 of the Transport Act, 1947, for the confirmation of Agreements: Box No. 93;

(e) Chronological List kept under Rule 21 of the Tribunal's Rules of Applications to determine disputed questions under Section 109 of the Transport Act, 1947: Box No. 93;

(f) Files of Proceedings in Applications before the Tribunal: Boxes Nos. 1-81;

(g) Copies of Notices of Acquisition and any correspondence relating to individual acquisitions, which were not the subject of proceedings before the Tribunal, but concerning which correspondence had passed in exercise of the Tribunal's functions under Section 110 of the Act: Boxes Nos. 82-88;

(h) Road Haulage Cases, being printed Reports of Selected Decisions of the Tribunal: Box No. 97;

(i) Transport Acts, 1947 and 1953, Tribunal's Rules and Practice Directions, and relevant Statutory Instruments (In Folder: Box No. 97;

(j) The Tribunal's Seal: Box No. 97.

Proceedings before the Tribunal, fall into three main groups:

(i) Applications to determine the values of railway and canal securities under Section 17(3) of the Transport Act, 1947: Boxes Nos. 1-16;

(ii) Applications to confirm Agreements fixing the compensation for the acquisition of road haulage undertakings under Section 108 of the Act: Boxes Nos. 17-64;

(iii) Applications to determine disputes, to which the British Transport Commission was a party under Section 109 of the Act: Boxes Nos. 65-81.

For pieces 1-81, the first date given is the Date of Application and the second, the Date of Final Order.

Public Record(s)

English

97 box(es)

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

In 1968 Ministry of Transport

Topics

Litigation

Labour

Transport management

The Transport Arbitration Tribunal was established by the Transport Act of 1947. which transferred to public ownership, i.e. to the ownership of the British Transport Commission, the principal railway and canal undertakings in Great Britain, and which provided for the compulsory transfer to such ownership of long-distance road haulage undertakings. The Act also contained, in provisions later repealed by the Transport Act of 1953 before they were put into operation, for the establishment of area schemes for the transfer to public ownership of road passenger transport undertakings.

The Tribunal was to consist of: a president, appointed by the Lord Chancellor, who was to be a person of legal experience; one member appointed by the Lord President of the Court of Session, who was to be a person of legal experience in Scotland; and two other members, one with business experience, one with financial experience, who were also appointed by the Lord Chancellor.

The 1947 Act provided that the Tribunal should be a court of record and have an official seal, which should be judicially noticed, and that any order of the Tribunal should be enforceable as if it were an order of the High Court

The main function of the Tribunal was to determine the the values of railway and canal securities. The arbitration tribunal had sole jurisdiction to determine any dispute to which the British Transport Commission was a party, with regard to: compensation, overpayment, acquisition of any property, and disclaimers; and also, to any other question required by any other provision of the Act to be determined by the tribunal.

By Section 110 of the Act, it was provided that, where an undertaking, or part of an undertaking, or any property or any rights under any contract or agreement were transferred to the Commission under any provision of the Act, and it appeared to the tribunal on or after the expiration of twelve months from the date of transfer that the compensation payable by reason of the transfer had not been entirely and finally settled, the tribunal might require the Commission to bring before the tribunal all questions outstanding as to the compensation payable.

The act also provided that no sum was to be paid to any person by the Commission by way of or on account of compensation, except in pursuance of an agreement with that person, confirmed by the Tribunal. Confirmation of the Tribunal's decision or order in cases of compensation was not required unless the payment exceeded £20,000.

By the Transport Act, 1953, that limit was raised to the sum of £100,000.