the Board Sections 5–8: General directions; framing of programmes; annual reports and accounts; consultation on the acquisition and disposing of undertakings, Registration and Licensing of Iron and Steel Undertakings Sections 9–11: Undertakings to register with the Minister; calling for information; requirement to have a license, Acquisition of Undertakings by the Board Sections 12–22: Acquisition notices; securities; representation of shareholders; rights of transferred companies to continue to use assets; efficient operation; limitation of dividends, Terms of Purchase Sections 23–25: Compensation for transferred assets, Financial Provisions Sections 26–35: Borrowing and raising money; creating and issuing of stock; reserve fund; accounts and annual statement, Arbitration Tribunal Sections 36–38: Establishment of tribunal; remuneration; enforcement Orders, Miscellaneous and General Sections 39–46: Acquisition of land; terms and conditions of employment; making of Regulations; prohibition of iron ore import; liabilities and penalties; interpretation; application to Northern Ireland. During the passage of the Bill through Parliament the proposed Iron and Steel Board became the Iron and Steel Corporation. Enactment and provisions The Iron and Steel Act 1949 (12 & 13 Geo. 6. c. 72) received Royal Assent on 24 November 1949. The Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain was established under the provisions of the Act with effect from October 1950. It brought 94 iron and steel companies into public ownership with effect from vesting day, the 15 February 1951. The 1949 Act also established an Iron and Steel Consumers' Council. This had the duty ‘of making representations to the Minister on such matters affecting the interests of the consumers as the Council think necessary’. Operation of the Act The model of nationalisation enacted by the 1949 Act was different to earlier ones, such as Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946. Only the share capital of the companies was acquired, not the undertakings themselves. The individual companies therefore continued to operate under management Boards appointed by the corporation. The mode of nationalisation was distinct because many iron and steel companies undertook other integrated activities, that could not easily be segregated into their individual functions. For example, the manufacturers of motor vehicles, which undertook steel processing, were excluded. About 2,000 iron and steel companies operated outside the nationalised sector. Observations on the Act The 1949 Act has been seen as both the culmination of the Labour government's nationalisation policy and as a major departure from that policy. It completed the list of major industrial infrastructures to be brought into