1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.
(2) This Order shall come into operation on such day or days as the Head of the Department of Finance and Personnel may by order appoint.
2. The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
3.—(1) The Department of Finance and Personnel may dispose of the current capital surplus in the Consolidated Fund by writing off a corresponding amount of principal due to the Consolidated Fund in respect of advances made under—
(a)Article 15(1) of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(2);
(b)Article 3(1) of the Housing Finance (Northern Ireland) Order 1977(3);
(c)section 20(1) of the Housing Executive Act (Northern Ireland) 1971(4).
(2) In paragraph (1) the “current capital surplus” means such amount as the Department of Finance and Personnel determines to be the amount by which the assets transferred to the Consolidated Fund by Articles 4 to 7 of the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(5) (abolition of certain funds) exceeded the liabilities so transferred by Article 4 of that Order.
4. In section 4 of the Harbours Act (Northern Ireland) 1970(6) (limit of £30 million on aggregate of loans and grants under sections 2 and 3 of that Act) for “£30 million” there shall be substituted “£35 million”.
5. In paragraph 5(a) of Schedule 9 to the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(7) (guarantee by Department of Finance and Personnel in connection with certain loans to general medical practitioners not to exceed £4 million), for “£4,000,000” there shall be substituted “£6,000,000”.
6. After Article 20 of the Electricity Supply (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(8) there shall be inserted the following Article—
20A.—(1) Any government loan to the Service and all interest payable in respect of it shall be a charge on the undertaking and all the revenues of the Service.
(2) In paragraph (1) “government loan” means a loan made under Article 8 of the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1983(9).”.
7.—(1) In Article 9 of the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 (terms, etc., of government loans)—
(a)in paragraph (5) (publication of notices in the Belfast Gazette), after sub-paragraph (a) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—
“(aa)the rates of interest chargeable under Article 12 in respect of any variable interest loan or class of variable interest loans specified in the notice; and”;
(b)in paragraph (5A) (rates of interest may be stated using formula) after the words “paragraph (5)(a)” there shall be inserted the words “or (aa)”.
(2) In Article 12 of that Order (additional interest on arrears of government loans)—
(a)in paragraph (1) (interest chargeable when more than thirty-one days in arrear), for the words “government loan” there shall be substituted the words “variable interest loan is in arrear or in respect of any government loan which is not a variable interest loan”;
(b)after that paragraph there shall be inserted the following paragraph—
“(1A) The rate of interest charged under paragraph (1) in respect of a variable interest loan shall be such as may be determined by the Department under Article 9.”;
(c)in paragraph (2) (calculation of rate of additional interest on arrears of government loans) after the words “paragraph (1)” there shall be inserted the words “in respect of a government loan which is not a variable interest loan”.
8. In section 22 of the Exchequer and Audit Act (Northern Ireland) 1921(10) (preparation and examination of trading, etc., accounts), for the first paragraph there shall be substituted the following paragraph—
“Every Department shall, if the Department of Finance and Personnel so directs, prepare in each financial year statements of account showing the income and expenditure of any manufacturing, trading or commercial services conducted by it, and such statements of account shall be in such form and shall be accompanied by such balance sheets and statements of profit and loss as the Department of Finance and Personnel may direct.. ”
9.—(1) In section 15 of the Exchequer and Financial Provisions Act (Northern Ireland) 1950(11) (Ulster Savings Certificates)—
(a)for subsection (1) (power to issue Ulster Savings Certificates subject to prescribed conditions) there shall be substituted the following subsection—
“(1) For the purpose of borrowing money the Department may issue Ulster Savings Certificates subject to such conditions as the Department may direct, except that conditions as to the procedures for issue, redemption,repayment, exchange or otherwise shall be such as may be prescribed from time to time.”;
(b)subsection (2) (power to make regulations for any matter for which Treasury has power to make regulations as respects savings certificates under certain enactments) shall cease to have effect.
(2) In section 16(3) of that Act (power to make regulations for issue of securities in exchange for Ulster Savings Certificates) for the words “Regulations made by the Ministry under the last preceding section may” there shall be substituted the words “The Department may by regulations or directions (as appropriate) under the last preceding section”.
(3) Paragraph (1) and Article 10(2) so far as it repeals section 15(2) of that Act do not affect any regulations made by virtue of that section before the commencement of this Article, but any such regulations, so far as they relate to any matter which may be thesubject of a direction under that section (as amended by this Article), may be amended or revoked as if they were such a direction.
10.—(1) In Article 9(6) of the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1983(12) (construction of reference to security to include reference to charge imposed by a statutory provision for securing government loans to a district council etc.), the words from “to a district council” to the end shall cease to have effect.
(2) The statutory provisions set out in the Schedule are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the Schedule.
G. I. de Deney
Clerk of the Privy Council