Contents
Part 9 · Protection of essential supplies
Supplemental
100Sections 94 to 99: supplemental#
(1)The power to make regulations under section 94 or 98 includes power to make incidental, supplementary, consequential, transitional or saving provision, including doing so by amending any statutory provision.
(2)The power to make regulations under section 95 or 99 includes—
(a)power to provide for a person to exercise a discretion in a matter;
(b)power to make incidental, supplementary, consequential, transitional or saving provision;
(c)power to make any provision that may be made by the regulations by amending the 1989 Order or any other statutory provision.
(3)Regulations under section 95 or 99 may not be made so as to have effect in relation to contracts entered into before the regulations come into operation.
(4)Regulations under section 94, 95, 98 or 99 may not be made unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, the Assembly.
Corporate insolvency
94Power to add to supplies protected under the 1989 Order#
(1)The Department may by regulations amend Article 197 (protection of essential supplies of electricity, gas, water, etc) so as to add to the supplies mentioned in paragraph (3) of that Article any of the following—
(a)a supply of electricity, gas, water or sewerage services or communication services by a specified description of person;
(2)In the heading to Article 197, after “Supplies of” insert “gas,”.
95Power to give further protection to essential supplies#
(1)The Department may by regulations make provision for insolvency-related terms of a contract for the supply of essential goods or services to a company to cease to have effect where—
(a)the company enters administration, or a voluntary arrangement under Part 2 of the 1989 Order takes effect in relation to it, and
(b)any conditions specified in the regulations are met.
(2)The regulations must include provision for securing that, where an insolvency-related term of a contract ceases to have effect under the regulations, the contract may be terminated by the supplier if—
(a)an insolvency office-holder consents to the termination,
(b)a court grants permission for the termination, or
(c)any charges in respect of the supply that are incurred after the company enters administration or the voluntary arrangement takes effect are not paid within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which payment is due.
(3)The regulations must include provision for securing that, where an insolvency-related term of a contract ceases to have effect under the regulations, the supplier may terminate the supply unless an insolvency office-holder personally guarantees the payment of any charges in respect of the continuation of the supply.
(4)The regulations may provide for exceptions to the right of a supplier to terminate a supply under provision made by virtue of subsection (3).
(5)The regulations must (in addition to the provision mentioned in subsections (2) and (3)) include such other provision as the Department considers appropriate for securing that the interests of suppliers are protected.
(6)A “contract for the supply of essential goods or services” is a contract for a supply mentioned in Article 197(3).
(7)An “insolvency-related term” of a contract for the supply of essential goods or services to a company is a provision of the contract under which—
(a)the contract or the supply would terminate, or any other thing would take place, because the company enters administration or the voluntary arrangement takes effect,
(b)the supplier would be entitled to terminate the contract or the supply, or to do any other thing, because the company enters administration or the voluntary arrangement takes effect, or
(c)the supplier would be entitled to terminate the contract or the supply because of an event that occurred before the company enters administration or the voluntary arrangement takes effect.
(8)“Insolvency office-holder” means—
(a)in a case where a company enters administration, the administrator;
(b)in a case where a voluntary arrangement under Part 2 of the 1989 Order takes effect in relation to a company, the supervisor of the voluntary arrangement.
Individual insolvency
96Protection of supplies of water, electricity, etc#
(1)Article 343 (protection of essential supplies of electricity, gas, water, etc) is amended as follows.
(2)Paragraph (4) is amended in accordance with subsections (3) to (5).
(3)After sub-paragraph (a) insert—“aza a supply of electricity by a class of person within Class A (small supply) or Class B (resale) of Schedule 3 to the Electricity (Class Exemptions from the Requirement for a Licence) Order (Northern Ireland) 2013 (S.R. 2013/93);”
(4)After sub-paragraph (b) insert—“ba a supply of water by a person who has an interest in the premises to which the supply is given;”
(5)After sub-paragraph (c) (and before the words “and in this paragraph”) insert—“d a supply of communications services by a person who carries on a business which includes giving such supplies;e a supply of goods or services mentioned in paragraph (5) by a person who carries on a business which includes giving such supplies, where the supply is for the purpose of enabling or facilitating anything to be done by electronic means;”
(6)After paragraph (4) insert—“5 The goods and services referred to in paragraph (4)(e) are—a point of sale terminals;b computer hardware and software;c information, advice and technical assistance in connection with the use of information technology;d data storage and processing;e website hosting.”
(7)In the heading to the Article, after “Supplies of” insert “gas,”.
97Further protection of essential supplies#
(1)After Article 343 insert—“343A 1 An insolvency-related term of a contract for the supply of essential goods or services to an individual ceases to have effect if—a a voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved under Chapter 2 of Part 8, andb the supply is for the purpose of a business which is or has been carried on by the individual, by a firm or partnership of which the individual is or was a member, or by an agent or manager for the individual or for such a firm or partnership.2 An insolvency-related term of a contract does not cease to have effect by virtue of paragraph (1) to the extent that—a it provides for the contract or the supply to terminate, or any other thing to take place, because the individual becomes subject to an insolvency procedure other than a voluntary arrangement;b it entitles a supplier to terminate the contract or the supply, or do any other thing, because the individual becomes subject to an insolvency procedure other than a voluntary arrangement; orc it entitles a supplier to terminate the contract or the supply because of an event that occurs, or may occur, after the voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved.3 Where an insolvency-related term of a contract ceases to have effect under this Article the supplier may—a terminate the contract, if the condition in paragraph (4) is met;b terminate the supply, if the condition in paragraph (6) is met.4 The condition in this paragraph is that—a the supervisor of the voluntary arrangement consents to the termination of the contract,b the High Court grants permission for the termination of the contract, orc any charges in respect of the supply that are incurred after the voluntary arrangement is approved are not paid within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which payment is due.5 The High Court may grant permission under paragraph (4)(b) only if satisfied that the continuation of the contract would cause the supplier hardship.6 The condition in this paragraph is that—a the supplier gives written notice to the supervisor of the voluntary arrangement that the supply will be terminated unless the supervisor personally guarantees the payment of any charges in respect of the continuation of the supply after the arrangement was approved, andb the supervisor does not give that guarantee within the period of 14 days beginning with the day the notice is received.7 For the purposes of securing that the interests of suppliers are protected, where—a an insolvency-related term of a contract (the “original term”) ceases to have effect by virtue of paragraph (1), andb a subsequent voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved,the contract is treated for the purposes of paragraphs (1) to (6) as if, immediately before the subsequent voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved, it included an insolvency-related term identical to the original term.8 A contract for the supply of essential goods or services is a contract for a supply mentioned in Article 343(4).9 An insolvency-related term of a contract for the supply of essential goods or services to an individual is a provision of the contract under which—a the contract or the supply would terminate, or any other thing would take place, because the voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved,b the supplier would be entitled to terminate the contract or the supply, or to do any other thing, because the voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved, orc the supplier would be entitled to terminate the contract or the supply because of an event that occurred before the voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved.”
(2)Paragraph (1) of Article 343A (inserted by subsection (1)) does not have effect in relation to a contract entered into before the date on which that paragraph comes into operation.
98Power to add to supplies protected under the 1989 Order#
(1)The Department may by regulations amend Article 343 (protection of essential supplies of electricity, gas, water, etc) so as to add to the supplies mentioned in paragraph (4) of that Article any of the following—
(a)a supply of electricity, gas, water or sewerage services or communication services by a specified description of person;
99Power to give further protection to essential supplies#
(1)The Department may by regulations make provision for insolvency-related terms of a contract for the supply of essential goods or services to an individual to cease to have effect where—
(a)a voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved under Chapter 2 of Part 8 of the 1989 Order, and
(b)any conditions specified in the regulations are met.
(2)The regulations must include a condition that ensures that an insolvency-related term of a contract for the supply of essential goods or services to an individual does not cease to have effect unless the supply is for the purpose of a business that is or has been carried on by the individual or with which the individual has or had another connection of a kind specified in the regulations.
(3)The regulations must include provision for securing that, where an insolvency-related term of a contract ceases to have effect under the regulations, the contract may be terminated by the supplier if—
(a)the supervisor of the voluntary arrangement consents to the termination,
(b)a court grants permission for the termination, or
(c)any charges in respect of the supply that are incurred after the voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved are not paid within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which payment is due.
(4)The regulations must include provision for securing that, where an insolvency-related term of a contract ceases to have effect under the regulations, the supplier may terminate the supply unless the supervisor of the voluntary arrangement personally guarantees the payment of any charges in respect of the continuation of the supply.
(5)The regulations may provide for exceptions to the right of the supplier to terminate a supply under provision made by virtue of subsection (4).
(6)The regulations must (in addition to the provision mentioned in subsections (3) and (4)) include such other provision as the Department considers appropriate for securing that the interests of suppliers are protected.
(7)A “contract for the supply of essential goods or services” is a contract for a supply mentioned in Article 343(4).
(8)An “insolvency-related term” of a contract for the supply of essential goods or services to an individual is a provision of the contract under which—
(a)the contract or supply would terminate, or any other thing would take place, because the voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved,
(b)the supplier would be entitled to terminate the contract or the supply, or to do any other thing, because the voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved, or
(c)the supplier would be entitled to terminate the contract or the supply because of an event that occurred before the voluntary arrangement proposed by the individual is approved.
Part 13 · General
118Interpretation#
In this Act—• “the Department” means the Department for the Economy;• “statutory provision” has the meaning given by section 1(f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.
119Power to make consequential amendments, repeals and revocations#
(1)The Department may by order make such provision as the Department considers appropriate in consequence of this Act (including the repeal, revocation, amendment or modification of any statutory provision).
(2)An order containing consequential provisions under subsection (1) may include transitional, transitory or saving provision in connection with those provisions.
(3)An order under subsection (1) that repeals, revokes or amends Northern Ireland legislation or an Act of Parliament may not be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by, the Assembly.
(4)Any other order under subsection (1) is subject to negative resolution.
120Commencement#
(1)Part 9 and this Part come into operation on the day after the day on which this Act receives Royal Assent.
(2)The other provisions of this Act come into operation on such day or days as the Department may by order appoint.
(3)An order under subsection (2) may contain such transitional or saving provisions as the Department considers appropriate.
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