(1)The aggregate amount outstanding, otherwise than by way of interest, in respect of—
(a)the general external borrowing of the Board and their wholly owned subsidiaries;
(b)sums issued by the Treasury in fulfilment of guarantees under paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 below and riot repaid to the Treasury;
(c)sums paid to the Board under paragraph 5(1) of that Schedule;
(d)loans guaranteed by the Board otherwise than under section 3 above;
shall not exceed the limit specified in subsection (2) below.
(2)The said limit shall be £700 million, but the Secretary of State may by order made with the consent of the Treasury raise the limit to not more than £1,000 million.
(3)Such an order shall not be made unless a draft of it has been approved by resolution of the House of Commons.
(4)In subsection (1) above "general external borrowing" means—
(a)in relation to the Board, sums borrowed by them other than—
(i)sums borrowed from a body corporate which is one of the Board's wholly owned subsidiaries at the time of the loan ;
(ii)any sums mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above; or
(iii)sums borrowed by the Board for the purpose of giving assistance under section 3 above ; and
(b)in relation to a wholly owned subsidiary of the Board, sums borrowed by it when it was such a subsidiary other than sums borrowed from the Board or from another wholly owned subsidiary ;
but does not include any debt assumed by the Board under paragraph 6(1) of Schedule 2 below.
(1)Subject to subsection (2) below, neither the Board nor any of the Board's subsidiaries--
(a)shall commence a business of publishing newspapers, magazines or other periodicals for sale to the public in the United Kingdom ; or
(b)enter into any contract with the Independent Broad casting Authority for the provision of programmes.
(2)Subsection (1) above does not apply to periodicals wholly or mainly concerned with the activities of the Board or any of the Board's subsidiaries.
(3)Subject to subsection (4) below, neither the Board nor any of the Board's subsidiaries shall acquire any of the share capital of a body corporate if a substantial part of the undertaking—
(a)of that body corporate, or
(b)of a group of companies of which it is the holding company,
consists of carrying on—
(i)a business such as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above, or
(ii)the activities of a programme contractor.
(4)Subsection (3) above shall not prevent the acquisition of share capital of a body corporate if the acquisition is made in pursuance of a direction under section 3 above.
(5)Subject to subsections (7) and (8) below, if the Board or any of the Board's subsidiaries acquire any of the share capital of a body corporate which carries on any such business as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above, it shall be their duty to exercise their voting power with a view to securing that the body corporate disposes of the business as soon as practicable.
(6)Subject to subsections (7) and (8) below, if the Board or any of the Board's subsidiaries acquire any of the share capital of a body corporate which has any interest, direct or indirect, in a body corporate which carries on such a business, it shall be their duty to exercise their voting power with a view to securing that the capital of the body corporate which carries on that business is disposed of as soon as practicable.
(7)The Secretary of State may direct that the Board or a subsidiary of the Board shall not be under any duty imposed by subsection (5) or (6) above during such time as the direction is in force.
(8)The Secretary of State may only give such a direction as is mentioned in subsection (7) above if he is of the opinion that without such a direction serious commercial injury would be caused to any newspaper, magazine or periodical concerned.
(9)If the Board or any of the Board's subsidiaries acquire any of the share capital of a body corporate which is a programme contractor, they shall consult the Independent Broadcasting Authority as to the steps that they are to take with regard to that share capital and obey any direction given by that Authority.
(10)Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the Board and of any of the Board's subsidiaries to use any power to control or influence the carrying on of a business such as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above or of the activities of a programme contractor only in relation to financial or commercial matters.
(11)In this section "programme contractor" has the meaning assigned to it by section 2(3) of the [1973 c. 19.] Independent Broadcasting Authority Act 1973.
(1)Neither the Board nor any of their subsidiaries shall acquire any of the share capital of a body corporate except with the consent of the Secretary of State or in accordance with any general authority given by the Secretary of State—
(a)if its acquisition would entitle the Board to exercise or control the exercise of 30 per cent, or more of the votes at any general meeting of the body corporate ; or
(b)if the value of the consideration for its acquisition, together with the value of any consideration paid for share capital of that body corporate previously acquired, would exceed £10,000,000.
(2)Subsection (1)(a) above shall not restrict the acquisition of share capital of a body corporate which gives a right to vote exercisable only in restricted circumstances.
(3)Nothing in subsection (1) above shall be taken to restrict the power to form bodies corporate conferred on the Board by section 2(4)(b) above.
(4)In any case where the Board hold share capital such as is mentioned in subsection (2) above, the fact that they hold it shall be disregarded for the purpose of determining whether subsection (1)(a) above prevents their acquisition of further share capital of the same body corporate.