Subsidies & Assistance

Part 6: Financial Assistance Powers

Financial Assistance Powers

Section 50: Powers to provide financial assistance powers for economic development etc

• This section is a general power to provide financial assistance for a number of specified purposes. Those purposes are economic development, infrastructure, culture, sporting activities, domestic educational and training activities and exchanges, and international education and training activities and exchanges.
• For the purpose of this section, subsection (2) makes provision about the interpretation of certain terms.

Section 51: Financial assistance: supplementary

• This section makes supplementary provision in connection with the power to provide financial assistance in section 50.
• Subsection (2) makes clear that the power does not affect the operation of existing statutory or common law powers available to UK Ministers to provide financial assistance.

 

Part 7: Subsidy Control

Subsidy Control

Section 52: Regulation of distortive or harmful subsidies

• This section reserves to the UK Parliament the exclusive ability to legislate for a subsidy control regime once the UK ceases to follow EU State aid This can address the effects of distortive or harmful subsidies, whether that is in relation to international trade or the UK internal market.
• For this purpose, the section provides interpretations of “subsidy”, a “distortive or harmful” subsidy and a “public authority”.
• This section amends Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 and Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006 for Scotland and Wales respectively to make the regulation of distortive or harmful subsidies a ‘reserved matter’. In respect of Northern Ireland, the provision amends

Schedule 2 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to make regulation in this area an ‘excepted

matter’. The effect of these amendments is that the devolved legislatures cannot legislate in this area as it will be an exclusive competence of the UK Parliament.

Section 53: UK subsidy control consultation engagement with the devolved authorities on the Government response

• Section 53 commits the UK Government to engagement with the devolved authorities on the

Government’s response to the forthcoming UK subsidy control consultation.

• This section will ensure that the Secretary of State will provide a draft of the proposed response to the consultation to the devolved authorities, inviting them to make representations within a period specified. The Secretary of State will then consider any representations and determine whether to alter the final report in light of that
• For the purpose of this section, “the UK subsidy control consultation” is the forthcoming

consultation committed to by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in a written Ministerial statement made in the House of Commons on 9 September 2020 (consultation on whether the UK should go further than its existing international commitments in relation to subsidy control, including whether legislation is necessary). This section is limited to this consultation.

• This consultation requirement is in addition to any engagement with the devolved authorities in the course of the forthcoming UK subsidy control consultation.