Statutory Corporations (Financial Provisions) Act 1974

1 Compensation to certain statutory corporations in respect of limitation of prices in financial years 1971-73

(1) For the purpose of compensating the bodies corporate specified in the first column of Schedule 1 to this Act in respect of financial loss which—

(a) in any of the financial years 1971-1973 was incurred by them in consequence of their compliance with the national policy relating to limitation of prices, and

(b) was reflected in deficits on their revenue accounts for any of those financial years,

the appropriate Minister shall make payments to those bodies in accordance with the following provisions of this section.

(2) For the purposes of the application of this section to any of the bodies corporate specified in the first column of Schedule 1 to this Act (in this section referred to as a " specified body ")—

(a) " the specified amount" means the amount specified in the corresponding entry in the second column of that Schedule, and

(b) " the financial years 1971-73 " means the financial years of the specified body which ended in March 1971, March 1972 and March 1973 respectively.

(3) The aggregate amount of the payments to be made under this section to bodies corporate specified in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to this Act shall be the specified amount, which shall be apportioned among them as the appropriate Minister, having regard to the purpose mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, may with the consent of the Treasury determine; and the amount of the payments to be made under this section to each of the other specified bodies shall be the specified amount.

(4) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, the times at which payments are made under this section, and the amount paid at any one time, shall be such as the appropriate Minister may, with the consent of the Treasury, determine.

(5) For the purposes of this section the reference in Schedule 1 to this Act to the British Gas Corporation shall be taken to refer to the body now so called and formerly called the Gas Council, and, in relation to that body, references in subsection (1) of this section to financial loss incurred by them in any of the financial years 1971-1973 and reflected in deficits on their revenue accounts for any of those financial years shall be construed as references—

(a) to financial loss which, in either of their financial years ending in March 1971 and March 1972 respectively, was incurred by any of the Area Boards established under the [1948 c. 67.] Gas Act 1948 in consequence of their compliance with the national policy referred to in that subsection and was reflected in deficits on their revenue accounts for either of those financial years, and

(b) to financial loss which, if those Area Boards had continued to exist until the end of March 1973 and to operate in the like manner, and with the like compliance with that policy, as in their previous financial years, might have been expected to be incurred by them, and to be reflected in deficits on their revenue accounts, for their financial years which would in that event have ended in March 1973.