Electricity Corporations Act 2005

Western Australia

An Act —

·to establish 3 corporations in place of Western Power Corporation each with particular responsibilities relating to the provision of electricity in the South West of the State, and a corporation in place of Western Power Corporation with responsibility for the provision of electricity outside the South West of the State;

·to provide for the passing of the assets and liabilities of Western Power Corporation to the new corporations or to the State and for other transitional matters;

·to amend and rename the Electricity Corporation Act 1994, and to amend other Acts, as a consequence of Western Power Corporation being replaced by the new corporations,

and to make related provisions.

Part 1 — Preliminary

1. Short title

This is the Electricity Corporations Act 2005.

2. Commencement

(1) Except as stated in subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

(2) The provisions of —

(a) Parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8;

(b) Part 9, other than sections 141, 142, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153(1) and 179; and

come into operation on a day fixed by proclamation.

(3) Different days may be fixed under subsection (2) for different provisions.

(4) A day is not to be fixed for the purposes of subsection (2) until the Minister is of the opinion that the transfer order or transfer orders required by section 147(1) has or have been made.

3. Terms used in this Act

(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —

“board” means a board of directors provided for by section 8;

“chief executive officer” means an officer appointed under section 14 and, except in sections 14 and 16, includes an acting chief executive officer appointed under section 17;

“Commissioner for Public Sector Standards” means the person for the time being holding the office created by the Public Sector Management Act 1994 section 16(1);

“corporation” means a body established by section 4(1);

“Corporations Act” means the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth;

“director” means a member of a board;

“Economic Regulation Authority” means the Economic Regulation Authority established by the Economic Regulation Authority Act 2003;

“electricity” includes electrical energy of any kind however produced, stored, transported or consumed;

“Electricity Generation Corporation” means the body established by section 4(1)(a);

“Electricity Networks Corporation” means the body established by section 4(1)(b);

“Electricity Retail Corporation” means the body established by section 4(1)(c);

“executive officer” means a member of the staff of a corporation designated under section 20 as an executive officer;

“function” includes powers, duties and authorities, except in —

(a) Part 3 Division 1 Subdivisions 1 to 6; and

(b) sections 56 and 59;

“gas” means any gas or mixture of gases, whether naturally occurring or manufactured, intended for use —

(a) as a fuel; or

(b) in any chemical process;

“member of staff” means a person engaged under section 18;

“non‑executive director”, in relation to a corporation, means a director other than the chief executive officer if he or she is a director of the corporation;

“Regional Power Corporation” means the body established by section 4(1)(d);

“South West interconnected system” means the interconnected transmission and distribution systems, generating works and associated works —

(a) located in the South West of the State and extending generally between Kalbarri, Albany and Kalgoorlie; and

(b) into which electricity is supplied by one or more of the electricity generation plants at Kwinana, Muja, Collie and Pinjar,

as expanded or altered from time to time;

“subsidiary”, in relation to a corporation, means —

(a) a body determined to be a subsidiary of the corporation under subsection (2); and

(b) an interest or other rights of the corporation in a unit trust, joint venture or partnership where the interest or other rights of the corporation in connection with the unit trust, joint venture or partnership entitle the corporation to —

(i) control the composition of the governing body of the unit trust, joint venture or partnership;

(ii) cast, or control the casting of, more than one‑half of the maximum number of votes that might be cast at a general meeting of the unit trust, joint venture or partnership; or

(iii) control the business affairs of the unit trust, joint venture or partnership;

“Treasurer” means the Treasurer of the State.

(2) The Corporations Act Part 1.2 Division 6 applies for the purpose of determining whether a body is a subsidiary of a corporation.

[Parts 2‑8 have not come into operation 2.]

Part 9 — Transitional provisions for succession from Western Power Corporation to new corporations

Division 1 — Preliminary

141. Purpose of this Part

The purpose of this Part is to provide for transitional matters in relation to the repeals effected by Schedule 5 clauses 11 and 19 and in particular to provide for —

(a) the Electricity Generation Corporation;

(b) the Electricity Networks Corporation;

(d) the Regional Power Corporation,

to stand in place of, and be the successors to, Western Power Corporation, except so far as section 169 applies.

142. Terms used in this Part

(1) In this Part, unless the contrary intention appears —

“asset” means property of any kind whether tangible or intangible, real or personal, corporeal or incorporeal and includes without limitation —

(a) a chose in action;

(b) goodwill;

whether arising from, accruing under, created or evidenced by or the subject of, an instrument or otherwise and whether liquidated or unliquidated, actual, contingent or prospective;

“commencement day” means the day on which Part 2 comes into operation;

“liability” means any liability, duty or obligation whether actual, contingent or prospective, liquidated or unliquidated, and whether owed alone or jointly or jointly and severally with any other person;

“new corporation” means one or more of —

(a) the Electricity Generation Corporation;

(b) the Electricity Networks Corporation;

(d) the Regional Power Corporation,

as the case may require;

“principal Act” means the Electricity Corporation Act 1994;

“records” means registers, papers, documents, minutes, receipts, books of account and other records, however compiled, recorded or stored;

“right” means any right, power, privilege or immunity whether actual, contingent or prospective;

“the 1994 Act” means the Energy Corporations (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 1994;

“transfer order” means an order made under section 147, as amended under section 153 or corrected under section 189(1), and includes any schedule to a transfer order;

“Western Power Corporation” means the body corporate that was the corporation under the principal Act section 4(1) before that section was repealed by Schedule 5 clause 11.

(2) For the purposes of this Part, a reference in an agreement or instrument to the Electricity Corporation referred to in the principal Act section 4(1) repealed by the Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 2000 section 14(3) is to be taken to be or include a reference to Western Power Corporation, unless the context otherwise requires.

[143. Has not come into operation 2.]

Division 2 — Powers conferred on Minister

144. Power for certain agreements to be made before commencement day

(1) The purpose of this section is —

(a) to provide for agreements to be made under subsection (2) before the commencement day; and

(b) to bring into existence the bodies corporate referred to in section 4(1) to the limited extent necessary for those agreements to be made.

(2) The Minister may, in the name and on behalf of each body corporate mentioned in subsection (1), agree in writing with Western Power Corporation, for the purposes of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth section 38‑325, that the transfer of assets, rights and liabilities, or of some assets, rights and liabilities, to a new corporation under this Division is the supply of a going concern.

(3) Western Power Corporation is authorised to enter into the agreements referred to in subsection (2).

(4) By this section —

(a) section 4(1) has effect; and

(b) a body corporate referred to in that section is established,

to the extent necessary for the purposes of subsection (2), but to no further extent.

145. Minister may give directions

(1) The Minister may give directions in writing to Western Power Corporation requiring it to take any step that the Minister considers necessary or convenient for achieving the purpose of this Part.

(2) The reference in subsection (1) to the taking of any step includes refraining from taking any step that Western Power Corporation might otherwise take.

(3) Without limiting subsection (1), a direction under that subsection may require Western Power Corporation to act in accordance with the instructions of a committee of persons appointed by the Minister and given responsibility for the implementation of reform in the electricity industry.

(4) Western Power Corporation is to give effect to a direction under subsection (1) despite anything in the principal Act.

(5) This section has effect despite the Statutory Corporations (Liability of Directors) Act 1996 section 6(a).

146. Directions to be laid before Parliament

The Minister must, within 14 days after a direction is given under section 145(1), cause the text of the direction to be laid before each House of Parliament or dealt with under section 134.

Division 3 — Passing of Western Power Corporation’s assets and liabilities to new corporations or the State

Subdivision 1 — Making of transfer order s

147. Minister to make order for allocation of assets and liabilities

(1) As soon as is practicable after this section comes into operation the Minister is to make and publish in the Gazette one or more orders specifying —

(a) how assets, rights and liabilities —

(i) of Western Power Corporation; or

(ii) of a kind referred to in section 150,

are to be allocated among the new corporations;

(b) any proceedings in which one or more of the new corporations is to replace Western Power Corporation as a party or parties; and

(2) An allocation under subsection (1)(a) may be made to —

(a) a new corporation; or

(b) one or more of the new corporations either jointly or as tenants in common in equal or unequal shares.

(3) Without limiting subsection (1), an order under that subsection may —

(a) provide for the allocation of income in respect of any asset;

(b) in respect of a particular liability, allocate a specified share of the liability to one or more of the new corporations;

(c) provide for the transfer, debiting, crediting or closing of, or for otherwise dealing with, any account, reserve, fund, provision, profit or liability for any levy;

(d) specify any person or thing by describing the person or thing as a member of a class;

(e) for any asset or right or class of assets or rights —

(i) ascribe a value to; or

(ii) provide for the manner in which a value is to be determined for,

the asset or right or assets or rights of that class;

(f) for any liability or class of liabilities —

(i) specify the amount of; or

(ii) provide for the manner in which an amount is to be determined for,

the liability or class of liabilities; and

(g) contain such incidental or supplementary provisions as the Minister thinks fit.

(4) Except where section 151 applies, a transfer order cannot be made after the commencement day.

148. Order may provide for transfer to subsidiary

(1) A transfer order may provide that —

(a) an asset or right that is allocated to a new corporation is to vest in; or

(b) a liability, or a share of a liability, that is allocated to a new corporation is to become the liability of,

a subsidiary of the new corporation.

(2) If a transfer order so provides, Western Power Corporation is to be taken —

(a) to continue to hold the asset or right; or

(b) to be liable for the liability,

until a further order is made under section 155.

149. Transfer order schedules

A transfer order may allocate assets, rights or liabilities by reference to schedules in which they are specified, and those schedules —

(a) need not be published in the Gazette; but

(b) must be available for inspection by the public at a place identified in the order.

150. Treatment of certain internal arrangements of Western Power Corporation

(1) An instrument that provides for arrangements between different parts of the business and operations of Western Power Corporation may be specified in a transfer order as if it created contractual rights and liabilities.

(2) An instrument specified as described in subsection (1) is to be regarded as if its provisions were contractual provisions between different legal entities.

(3) The definitions of “liability” and “right” in section 142 include contractual liabilities and rights that are to be regarded as arising because of subsection (2), and those liabilities and rights may be dealt with accordingly under this Part.

151. Power to make subsequent order

(1) If for any reason it is not practicable to allocate any asset, right or liability to one or more of the new corporations under section 147 before the commencement day —

(a) a transfer order is to specify that the asset, right or liability is to be allocated under this section; and

(b) the Minister may make a further order under section 147 in respect of that asset, right or liability not later than 6 months after the commencement day.

(2) An order under subsection (1) is to have effect from the commencement day.

(3) Western Power Corporation is to be taken —

(a) to continue to hold an asset or right; or

(b) to be liable for a liability,

to which subsection (1) applies until the further order is made.

152. References in Government agreements

(1) In this section —

“Government agreement” has the meaning given to that term in the Government Agreements Act 1979 section 2.

(2) A transfer order is to specify for each provision in a Government agreement in which there is —

(a) a reference to Western Power Corporation; or

(b) a reference to a body that under the 1994 Act section 49 is to be read as a reference to Western Power Corporation,

whether that reference is to be read as a reference to —

(d) 2 or more specified new corporations.

(3) A transfer order may, where subsection (2)(d) applies, specify that a reference is to be read as a reference to new corporations jointly or as tenants in common in equal or unequal shares.

(4) Subsection (2) does not apply to a provision of a Government agreement that is spent or has had its effect.

153. Amendment of transfer orders

(1) The Minister may, before the commencement day, by further order published in the Gazette, amend a transfer order.

[(2)-(4) have not come into operation 2.]

Subdivision 2 — Operation of transfer order s

[154‑159. Have not come into operation 2.]

Subdivision 3 — Re‑allocation of assets, rights and liabilities

[160‑162. Have not come into operation 2.]

Subdivision 4 — Order that allocated assets or liabilities pass instead to the State

[163‑165. Have not come into operation 2.]

Subdivision 5 — Replacement of party in proceedings

[166‑168. Have not come into operation 2.]

Subdivision 6 — Assets, liabilities and proceedings not otherwise provided for

[169‑172. Have not come into operation 2.]

Subdivision 7 — Other matters relating to passing of assets and liabilities

[173‑178. Have not come into operation 2.]

Division 4 — Staff

179. Transition of employment

(1) Western Power Corporation may, before the commencement day —

(a) determine which new corporation is to be, on and from that day, the employer of each person who is a member of staff, as defined in the principal Act, before the commencement day; and

(b) give to each such person a notice in writing of the determination made in respect of him or her.

(2) A notice given to a person under subsection (1)(b) is to have effect, after the commencement of section 18, as if it were an agreement made under that section between —

(a) the person; and

(b) the board of the new corporation specified in the notice,

for the employment of that person as a member of the staff of that corporation.

[180-192. Have not come into operation 2.]

[Schedules 1-5 have not come into operation 2.]

Notes

1 This is a compilation of the Electricity Corporations Act 2005. The following table contains information about that Act 1a.

Compilation table

Short title	Number and Year	Assent	Commencement
Electricity Corporations Act 2005 Pt. 1, s. 141, 142, 144‑152, 153(1) and 179	18 of 2005	13 Oct 2005	13 Oct 2005 (see s. 2(1))

1a On the date as at which this compilation was prepared, provisions referred to in the following table had not come into operation and were therefore not included in this compilation. For the text of the provisions see the endnotes referred to in the table.

Provisions that have not come into operation

	Short title	Number and Year		Assent			Commencement
Electricity Corporations Act 2005 Pt. 2‑8, s. 143, 153(2)-(4), 154‑178, 180‑192 and Sch. 1‑5 2			18 of 2005		13 Oct 2005	To be proclaimed (see s. 2(2))

2 On the date as at which this compilation was prepared, the Electricity Corporations Act 2005 Pt. 2‑8, s. 143, 153(2)-(4), 154‑178, 180‑192 and Sch. 1‑5 have not come into operation. They read as follows:

“

Part 2 — Electricity Corporations

Division 1 — Establishment of corporations

4. Corporations established

(1) Each of the following is established as a body corporate with perpetual succession —

(a) the Electricity Generation Corporation;

(b) the Electricity Networks Corporation;

(d) the Regional Power Corporation.

(2) Proceedings may be taken by or against a corporation in its corporate name.

(3) A corporation may use, and operate under, one or more trading names approved by the Minister being —

(a) an abbreviation or adaptation of its corporate name; or

(b) a name other than its corporate name.

5. Corporations not agents of the State

A corporation is not an agent of the State and does not have the status, immunities and privileges of the State.

6. Corporations and officers not part of Public Service

(1) A corporation is not, and is not to become, a public sector body under the Public Sector Management Act 1994.

(2) Neither —

(a) the chief executive officer; nor

(b) any member of staff,

of a corporation is to be included in the Senior Executive Service provided for by the Public Sector Management Act 1994.

7. Head office of Regional Power Corporation

The head office of the Regional Power Corporation is to be located in a part of the State that is not served by the South West interconnected system.

Division 2 — Boards of directors

8. Boards of directors

(1) A corporation is to have a board of directors comprising not less than 4, nor more than 6, persons appointed by the Governor on the nomination of the Minister.

(2) The chief executive officer of a corporation may be a director of the corporation.

(3) A member of staff of a corporation is not to be a director of the corporation.

(4) In making nominations for appointment to the board of a corporation the Minister is to ensure that —

(a) each nomination is made only after consultation with the board; and

(b) in the case of an appointment to the board of the Regional Power Corporation, a nominee is a person ordinarily resident in a part of the State that is not served by the South West interconnected system so far as is necessary for the majority of the directors of the corporation, at the time of the appointment, to be persons so resident.

(5) Where a vacancy occurs in the membership of a board, the board may recommend a candidate to the Minister.

(6) Subsection (4)(a) does not apply —

(a) to the initial appointments to a board; or

(b) where the nominee was recommended by a board under subsection (5).

9. Role of board s

The board of a corporation —

(a) is its governing body; and

(b) in the name of the corporation and subject to this Act, is to perform the functions, determine the policies and control the affairs of the corporation.

10. Provisions about the constitution and proceedings of boards

Schedule 1 has effect with respect to the directors and the board of a corporation.

11. Remuneration

(1) A non‑executive director of a corporation is to be paid out of the funds of the corporation such remuneration and allowances as are determined by the Minister in the case of that corporation and that director.

(2) Remuneration is not to be paid to a non‑executive director who holds a full‑time office or position that is remunerated out of moneys appropriated by Parliament.

12. Conflict of duties

(1) In subsection (2) —

“public service officer” means a person who is employed in the Public Service under the Public Sector Management Act 1994 Part 3.

(2) If a public service officer is a director —

(a) his or her duties as a director are to prevail if a conflict arises between those duties and his or her other duties as a public service officer; and

(b) he or she does not have any immunity of the State in respect of the duties and liabilities imposed on directors by this Act.

13. Committees

(1) The board of a corporation may —

(a) appoint committees of such directors of the corporation as it thinks fit; and

(b) discharge, alter or reconstitute any committee.

(2) A committee is to comply with any direction or requirement of the board by which it was appointed.

(3) A committee may invite any person, including a member of staff of the corporation concerned, to participate in a meeting of the committee but such a person cannot vote on any resolution.

(4) Subject to subsection (2), a committee may determine its own procedures.

Division 3 — Staff

Subdivision 1 — Chief executive officer

14. Appointment

(1) A corporation is to have a chief executive officer.

(2) The powers —

(a) to appoint and remove the chief executive officer of a corporation; and

(b) to fix and alter his or her terms and conditions of service,

are vested in the board of the corporation.

(3) Despite subsection (2), the Minister is to appoint the initial chief executive officer of a corporation.

(4) It is a condition of service of the chief executive officer of the Regional Power Corporation that, while he or she holds office, his or her ordinary place of residence is to be in or near the town where the head office of that corporation is located.

(5) The board is to obtain the concurrence of the Minister before it exercises any of the powers conferred by subsection (2).

15. Role of chief executive officer

Subject to the control of the board, the chief executive officer of a corporation is responsible for, and has the powers needed to administer, the day to day operations of the corporation.

16. Resignation

(1) The chief executive officer of a corporation may resign from office by giving notice in writing to the board of the corporation.

(2) If the chief executive officer’s terms and conditions of service deal with the matter of resignation, the right to resign under subsection (1) can only be exercised in accordance with those terms and conditions.

17. Acting appointments

The board of a corporation may appoint a person to act in place of the chief executive officer of the corporation —

(a) during a vacancy in that office; or

(b) during any period when the chief executive officer is on leave or otherwise unable to carry out his or her duties or is absent from the State.

Subdivision 2 — Other staff

18. Powers in relation to staff

(1) The power to engage and manage the staff of a corporation is vested in its board.

(2) The power conferred by subsection (1) —

(a) includes powers to determine remuneration and other terms and conditions of service and to remove, suspend and discipline staff; and

(b) does not preclude the delegation of any matter under section 71.

(3) The remuneration of a member of staff and other terms and conditions of employment are to be such that the overall entitlements do not, on balance, disadvantage the person in comparison to the entitlements he or she would have under —

(a) an applicable award, order or agreement under the Industrial Relations Act 1979; or

(b) the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993.

(4) Nothing in this Act, other than section 19(2), affects the operation of the Industrial Relations Act 1979 Part VID.

19. Certain industrial matters excluded from employment agreements

(1) There are excluded from the operation of the Industrial Relations Act 1979 Part II Division 2B —

(a) any matters dealt with by an instrument issued under section 21 except —

(i) rates of remuneration;

(ii) leave;

(iii) hours of duty; and

(iv) matters that are similar to matters prescribed for the purposes of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 section 99(1)(a)(iv);

and

(b) matters concerning the management of the staff that are similar to matters prescribed for the purposes of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 section 99(1)(c).

(2) A matter referred to in subsection (1) cannot be varied or affected by an employer‑employee agreement made under the Industrial Relations Act 1979 Part VID.

20. Designation of executive officers

For the purposes of section 29, the board of a corporation may designate a member of the staff of the corporation as an executive officer by resolution —

(a) passed by the board; and

(b) notified in writing to the employee,

and may in the same manner revoke such a designation.

Subdivision 3 — Minimum standards for staff management

21. Standards to be set out in instrument

(1) The board of a corporation must, after consultation with the Commissioner for Public Sector Standards, prepare and issue an instrument setting out minimum standards of merit, equity and probity applicable to the management of the staff of the corporation.

(2) In subsection (1) —

“management” includes recruitment, selection, appointment, transfer, secondment, performance management, redeployment, discipline and termination of employment.

(3) In complying with subsection (1) a board is to have regard to the principles set out in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 section 8.

(4) Section 14(5) is not affected by the requirements of subsection (3).

(5) The Commissioner for Public Sector Standards may at any time recommend to a board any amendment that he or she thinks should be made to an instrument issued under this section.

(6) A board may —

(a) amend an instrument issued under this section; or

(b) revoke it and substitute a new instrument,

but, except where subsection (5) applies, is to do so only after consultation with the Commissioner for Public Sector Standards.

22. Reports to Commissioner for Public Sector Standards

(1) The Commissioner for Public Sector Standards may in writing require a board —

(a) to report to him or her on the observance of the minimum standards in force under section 21; and

(b) to make the reports at such times, but not more often than half‑yearly, as the Commissioner may specify.

(2) A board must comply with a requirement made under subsection (1).

(3) The Commissioner for Public Sector Standards may at any time report to the Minister on the content or observance of the minimum standards in force under section 21.

Subdivision 4 — Joint policy on staff transfers

23. Corporations to have joint policy approved by Minister

(1) The corporations must have, and comply with, a joint policy on staff transfers that has been approved or determined by the Minister under this section.

(2) The purpose of the joint policy referred to in subsection (1) is to ensure that members of staff of the corporations and of their subsidiaries have the opportunity to transfer between the corporations and their subsidiaries —

(a) for temporary or permanent employment;

(b) on secondment or temporary deployment; or

without loss of entitlements.

(3) Within 2 months after the commencement of this section, the corporations must jointly prepare a draft policy statement for the purposes of subsection (1) and submit it to the Minister.

(4) The Minister may —

(a) approve a draft policy statement submitted under subsection (3); or

(b) request that it be amended and approve it in an amended form.

(5) If a policy statement has not been approved by the Minister within a period that he or she considers reasonable and notifies to the corporations, the Minister may determine the contents of the policy statement.

24. Amendment of policy statement

(1) With the approval of the Minister, the corporations may jointly —

(a) amend a policy statement for the time being in force under section 23; or

(b) revoke it and replace it with another policy statement.

(2) The Minister may, in writing, direct the corporations —

(a) to amend a policy statement for the time being in force under section 23 in a specified way; or

(b) to revoke it and replace it with another policy statement containing specified provisions,

and the corporations are to comply with any such direction.

25. Consultation with staff

A corporation must —

(a) in preparing the draft policy statement under section 23(3); and

(b) before agreeing to make any amendment or replacement under section 24(1),

consult the members of its staff and the staff of its subsidiaries by making the draft statement, amendment or replacement, as the case may be, available for their comment.

Subdivision 5 — General

26. Superannuation

(1) In this section —

“members of staff” includes —

(a) a chief executive officer;

(b) dependants of members of staff; and

(2) A corporation may grant, or make provision for the grant of, retirement benefits to members of staff of the corporation and, for that purpose may —

(a) establish, manage and control; or

(b) enter into an arrangement with any body for the establishment, management and control by such body either alone or jointly with the corporation of,

any fund or scheme for the purpose of providing for such retirement benefits.

(3) The corporation concerned may make contributions to any fund or scheme referred to in subsection (2).

(4) Subsections (2) and (3) have effect subject to the State Superannuation Act 2000 section 30.

(5) Nothing in this section affects the operation of the State Superannuation Act 2000 in relation to a corporation or any member of staff.

Division 4 — Duties of, and relating to, directors and staff

27. Duties of, and relating to, directors

Schedule 2 has effect in relation to —

(a) the duties of directors;

(b) the duties of a corporation in respect of directors and related persons; and

28. Chief executive officer, duties imposed

(1) Schedule 2 clauses 2 to 11, 15 and 16 apply to the chief executive officer of a corporation in his or her capacity as such in addition, if he or she is a director of the corporation, to their application to him or her in that capacity.

(2) Schedule 2 clauses 4 and 7 to 11 apply to a former chief executive officer in his or her capacity as such in addition, if he or she was a director of the corporation, to their application to him or her in the capacity of former director.

(3) This section and section 27 do not operate so as to make a chief executive officer or a former chief executive officer liable to be punished twice for the same act or omission.

29. Executive officers, duties imposed

(1) Schedule 2 clauses 2 to 5, 7 to 11, 15 and 16 apply to an executive officer as if references to a director were replaced by references to an executive officer.

(2) Schedule 2 clauses 4 and 7 to 11 apply to a former executive officer as if references to a former director were replaced by references to a former executive officer.

30. Members of staff, duties imposed

(1) Schedule 2 clauses 4, 5 and 7 to 11 apply to any person engaged under section 18, other than an executive officer, as if references to a director were replaced by references to a person so engaged.

(2) Schedule 2 clauses 4 and 7 to 11 apply to a person formerly engaged under section 18, other than an executive officer, as if references to a former director were replaced by references to a person formerly so engaged.

31. Codes of conduct

(1) In this section and in sections 32 and 33 —

“members of staff” includes a chief executive officer.

(2) The board of a corporation must, after consultation with the Commissioner for Public Sector Standards, prepare and issue a code or codes of conduct setting out minimum standards of conduct and integrity to be observed by members of staff of the corporation.

(3) In complying with subsection (2) a board is to have regard to the principles set out in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 section 9.

(4) A board may, after consultation with the Commissioner for Public Sector Standards, amend any code of conduct in force under subsection (2) or revoke it and substitute a new code of conduct.

32. Reports to Commissioner for Public Sector Standards

(1) The Commissioner for Public Sector Standards may in writing require the board of a corporation —

(a) to report to him or her on the observance of any code of conduct in force under section 31 by members of staff of the corporation; and

(b) to make the reports at such times, but not more often than half‑yearly, as the Commissioner may specify.

(2) A board must comply with a requirement made under subsection (1).

(3) The Commissioner for Public Sector Standards may at any time report to the Minister on any matter that the Commissioner thinks should be brought to the Minister’s attention relating to the observance by members of staff of a corporation of a code of conduct in force under section 31.

33. Reports to Minister

(1) The board of a corporation, when it delivers to the Minister its annual report under section 107, must also deliver to the Minister a separate report on the observance of any code of conduct in force under section 31 by members of staff of the corporation.

(2) A board must give to the Commissioner for Public Sector Standards a copy of each report under subsection (1).

Part 3 — Functions and powers of corporations

Division 1 — Functions, powers and related provisions