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Section 15 Reduction, withholding and recovery of grant

Original text. Later amendments are not shown.

(1)

If at any time after the Department has approved an application in respect of any vessel it appears to it that –

(a)

any of the conditions under Article 6(1) or any undertakings under Article 6(2), relating to that approval have been breached or have not been complied with; or

(b)

without prejudice to the generality of sub-paragraph (a), that any of the circumstances specified in paragraph (2) exist or have occurred,

it may revoke the approval of such application or withhold the grant or any part of the grant in respect of the application and, where any payment by way of grant has been made, may recover on demand, as a civil debt, an amount equal to the whole or any part of the payment which has been so made.

(2)

For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b), the circumstances are –

(a)

the application or any part of it was not an application which the applicant was entitled under Article 3 to make;

(b)

the applicant or an employee or agent of an applicant –

(i)

has failed to comply with any requirement imposed under Articles 8, 9, 10 or 13;

(ii)

has intentionally obstructed any officer in the exercise of the powers of the officer under Article 14; or

(iii)

has given information on any matter relevant to the giving of the approval or the making of a payment relevant to the approval which is false or misleading in a material respect; or

(c)

there has been any fixing or adjustment of the amount of the bid indicated in the application by, under or in accordance with any agreement (whether legally binding or not) or arrangement with another person;

(d)

there has been damage or destruction of the vessel resulting in the payment to any person of any amount under a policy of insurance or by way of compensation or damages (regardless of whether or not the method of decommissioning the vessel had been approved under Article 8(2) before such damage or destruction occurred).

(3)

Before revoking an approval or reducing or withholding any grant or making a demand by virtue of paragraph (1), the Department shall –

(a)

give the applicant a written explanation of the reasons for the step proposed to be taken;

(b)

afford the applicant the opportunity of making written representations within such time as the Department consider reasonable;

(c)

consider such representations.