The Arts Council (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

Financial assistance by the Arts Council N.I.

5.—(1) Financial assistance provided by the Arts Council shall be in the form of a loan or a grant.

(2) The Arts Council, when making a loan, shall attach to the loan such conditions (if any) as may be specified in arrangements in writing approved by the Department.

(3) The Arts Council, when making a grant, shall attach to the grant—

(a) conditions—

(i) for securing the continuity of the undertaking assisted;

(ii) for repayment, in circumstances specified by the Council, of the whole or part of the grant; and

(iii) for payment, where paragraph (4) applies (and in addition to any amount repayable under head (ii)), of such sum as the Council may require under paragraph (5); and

(b) such other conditions (if any) as may be specified in arrangements in writing approved by the Department.

(4) This paragraph applies where the Arts Council has made a grant in respect of the acquisition, provision or alteration of any land or building and that land or building—

(a) is disposed of;

(b) ceases, in the opinion of the Council, to be used in accordance with the conditions attaching to the grant; or

(c) ceases, in the opinion of the Council, to be required for the purposes for which the grant was paid,

within such period as the Council shall specify in the grant conditions.

(5) Where paragraph (4) applies, there shall be payable to the Arts Council by the recipient a sum which the Council considers equitable, but which does not exceed the sum determined by the calculation—

where—

• V is the current value of the land or building determined in accordance with paragraph (6);

• G is the amount of the grant; and

• C is the cost of acquisition, provision or alteration of the land or building approved by the Council before making the grant.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (5) the current value of any land or building shall be taken to be the amount which the land or building might be expected to realise if sold in the open market on the date when the land or building is disposed of or ceases to be used or required as described in paragraph (4)(b) or (c), and where the Arts Council certifies that it is not possible to reach agreement as to such value, the dispute as to such value may be referred to and determined by the Lands Tribunal.

(7) The recipient shall pay interest upon the amount of grant repayable and the sum payable under paragraph (5), at such rate as is determined by an order made by the Department of Finance and Personnel under paragraph 18(2) of Schedule 6 to the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972F1 , from the relevant date until the date of payment of the money and interest to the Arts Council.

(8) Any sum which falls to be paid or repaid to the Arts Council under this Article may be recovered by the Council as a debt due to it.

(9) The Arts Council shall account to the Department for—

(a) any sum paid to it under paragraph (5); and

(b) any interest on that sum paid to it under paragraph (7).

(10) In paragraph (7) “the relevant date” means—

(a) in any case where the land or building is disposed of before the Arts Council serves notice on the recipient of its determination under sub-paragraph (b), the date of the disposal;

(b) in any other case, such date as the Council may determine.

(11) In this Article “recipient”, in relation to a grant, means the person to whom, or body to which, the grant was paid.

F1 1972 c. 9 (N.I.)