Gas Act 1986

Standards of performance in individual cases.

Promotion of reductions in home-heating costs: gas transporters and gas suppliers

Amendments, transitional provisions, savings and repeals.

Information with respect to levels of performance.

Information with respect to levels of performance.

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19DA

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7ZA

• (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Authority may grant a licence authorising any person to participate in the operation of a gas interconnector.

• (2) A licence shall not be granted under this section to a person who is the holder of a licence under section 7 or 7A.

• (3) A licence under this section—

• (a) must specify the interconnector or interconnectors in relation to which participation is authorised; and

• (b) may limit the forms of participation in the operation of an interconnector which are authorised by the licence.

Reports on references.

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64A

• (1) Where by virtue of this Act an act or omission taking place outside Great Britain constitutes an offence, proceedings for the offence may be taken, and the offence may for all incidental purposes be treated as having been committed, in any place in Great Britain.

• (2) Provision made by or under this Act in relation to places outside Great Britain—

• (a) so far as it applies to individuals, applies to them whether or not they are British citizens; and

• (b) so far as it applies to bodies corporate, applies to them whether or not they are incorporated under the law of a part of the United Kingdom.

The principal objective and general duties of the Secretary of State and the Authority.

Acquisition of rights to use storage facilities.

Information with respect to levels of performance.

33DB

• (1) This section applies in relation to standards prescribed by the Authority by regulations under section 43 of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 (standards for complaints handling) in relation to licence holders (or some of them).

• (2) The Authority must from time to time collect information with respect to the levels of compliance with the standards which those licence holders have achieved.

• (3) At such times as the Authority may direct, each of those licence holders must give the Authority such information as the Authority may direct with respect to the levels of compliance with the standards which the licence holder has achieved.

Reports on references.

Scottish Ministers' promotion of reductions in home-heating costs: gas suppliers

Information with respect to levels of performance.

41HA

• (1) The Secretary of State may by order amend this Part so as to provide—

• (a) for one or more activities within subsection (3) to be added to the activities which are licensable activities, or

• (b) where an order has previously been made under paragraph (a) in relation to an activity, for the activity to cease to be a licensable activity.

• (2) For the purposes of this Part activities are licensable activities if undertaking them without the authority of a licence or exemption constitutes an offence under section 5(1).

• (3) The activities within this subsection are activities connected with the provision, installation or operation of relevant meters, including the provision or installation of infrastructure, or the provision of services, in connection with the communication of information by or to such meters.

• (4) In this section—

• (a) “relevant meter” means a meter of a kind prescribed by the order;

• (b) a reference to a meter includes a reference to a visual display unit, or any other device, associated with or ancillary to a meter.

• (5) An order under this section may make consequential, transitional, incidental or supplementary provision, including—

• (a) amendments (or repeals) in any provision of this Act or any other enactment;

• (b) in the case of an order under subsection (1)(a), provision determining the conditions which are to be standard conditions for the purposes of licences authorising the undertaking of the activities;

• (c) provision modifying any standard conditions of licences.

• (6) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1) and (5), an order under this section may also make provision—

• (a) for licences to authorise the holder to carry out the licensable activities in any area, or only in an area specified in the licence;

• (b) enabling the terms of the licence to be modified so as to extend or restrict the area in which the licence holder may carry on the licensable activities;

• (c) specifying that a licence, and any modification of a licence, must be in writing;

• (d) for a licence, if not previously revoked, to continue in force for such period as may be specified in or determined by or under the licence;

• (e) conferring functions on the Secretary of State or the Authority.

• (7) An order under this section may provide that it is to remain in force only for the period specified in the order.

41HB

• (1) Before making an order under section 41HA, the Secretary of State must consult—

• (a) the Authority, and

• (b) such other persons as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate.

• (2) The power to make such an order may not be exercised after 1 November 2028.

• (3) An order under section 41HA may not be made unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing the order has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

• (4) Subsections (1) to (3) of section 47 apply in relation to orders under section 41HA as they apply in relation to regulations under this Part.

41HC

• (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for a determination on a competitive basis of the person to whom a licence in respect of new licensable activities is to be granted.

• (2) In this section “new licensable activities” means one or more activities which are the subject of an order under section 41HA(1)(a).

• (3) The regulations may—

• (a) provide for the determination to be made by the Secretary of State or the Authority;

• (b) provide, in prescribed cases, for the publication of a proposal to grant a licence in respect of the new licensable activities;

• (c) provide for the inclusion in such a proposal of an invitation to apply for such a licence;

• (d) impose conditions in relation to the making of an application for a licence;

• (e) impose restrictions in relation to persons who may apply for a licence;

• (f) impose requirements as to the period within which applications must be made;

• (g) make provision for regulating the manner in which applications are to be considered or determined;

• (h) authorise or require the Secretary of State or the Authority, when determining to whom a licence is to be granted, to have regard to the person's suitability for being granted both the licence and an electricity licence;

• (i) confer on the Authority or the Secretary of State functions in connection with tender exercises.

• (4) The regulations may also include provision—

• (a) enabling the Secretary of State or the Authority to require prescribed persons, in relation to a tender exercise, to make payments, in the form and manner prescribed, in respect of tender costs;

• (b) about the effect on a person's participation in the tender exercise of a failure to comply with a requirement imposed by virtue of paragraph (a), and the circumstances in which the tender exercise is to stop as a result of such a failure.

• (5) In this section—

• “electricity licence” means a licence for an activity to which an order under section 56FA(1)(a) of the Electricity Act 1989 applies;

• “prescribed” means prescribed in or determined under regulations under this section;

• “tender costs”, in relation to a tender exercise, means any costs incurred or likely to be incurred by the Authority or the Secretary of State for the purposes of the exercise;

• “tender exercise” means the steps taken in accordance with regulations with a view to determining to whom a particular licence is to be granted.

• (6) Any sums received by the Secretary of State or the Authority under regulations made by virtue of this section are to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

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Section 27B disputes

27B

• (1) For the purposes of sections 27C and 27D, a dispute is a “section 27B dispute” if—

• (a) it arises from a written complaint—

• (i) made against a gas transporter,

• (ii) made against the holder of a licence under section 7ZA,

• (iii) made against the owner of an LNG import or export facility,

• (iv) made against the owner of a storage facility,

• (v) made against a person carrying out an activity described in section 5(1)(a) or (aa) who has been granted an exemption under section 6A(1), ...

• (vi) made by a person falling within paragraph (a) of subsection (1B) against a person falling within paragraph (b) of that subsection; or

• (vii) made against the holder of a gas system planner licence;

• (b) it is wholly or mainly a dispute regarding an obligation of the person complained against which falls within subsection (2A); and

• (c) it is a dispute between the complainant and the person complained against.

• (1A) Until section 75 of the Utilities Act 2000 comes into force the reference in subsection (1)(a)(v) above to a person who has been granted an exemption under section 6A(1) includes a person to whom one or more of the exceptions to section 5(1) contained in Schedule 2A applies.

• (1B) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a)(vi)—

• (a) a person falls within this paragraph if the person is certified on the ground mentioned in section 8G(5) in respect of a pipe-line system or gas interconnector;

• (b) a person falls within this paragraph if the person is designated under section 8J(3)in respect of the pipe-line system or gas interconnector mentioned in paragraph (a).

• (2) The reference in subsection (1)(a) to a complaint does not include a reference to—

• (a) a complaint about a modification (or a failure to make a modification) of—