(1)The Secretary of State with the consent of the Treasury may, at any time after the National Film Finance Corporation have been dissolved by any such order as is mentioned in section 3(2), give financial assistance—
(a)to any British company or partnership, being a company or partnership in whose case he is satisfied as to the matters mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 3(4), for any purpose connected with the production of relevant films;
(b)to any person—
(i)for the purpose of enabling projects to be prepared, or other preliminary work to be undertaken or steps taken, with a view to the production of relevant films; or
(ii)for any purpose connected with the production of short films.
In this subsection " British company ", " British partnership " and " relevant film " have the meaning given by section 3(7), and " short film " means a relevant film with a total playing time of less than 35 minutes.
(2)Assistance under subsection (1) may be given by way of a grant or loan or in the form of a guarantee or otherwise; and in giving assistance under that subsection the Secretary of State may impose such conditions as he thinks fit, including conditions requiring a grant to be repaid in specified circumstances.
(3)The Secretary of State may appoint a person to make recommendations and provide other services in connection with the discharge by the Secretary of State of his functions under subsection (1)(b).
(4)Any sums required by the Secretary of State for making payments under subsection (1), or for meeting any expenses of any person appointed under subsection (3), shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament; and any sums received by the Secretary of State by virtue of this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.