7Borrowing by and government loans to Scottish Homes
(1)For the purpose of the exercise of any of its general functions or powers Scottish Homes may borrow money from the Secretary of State and may, with the consent of the Secretary of State given with the approval of the Treasury, borrow money, whether in sterling or otherwise, from any other person or body, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.
(2)Scottish Homes may borrow money from any of its wholly owned subsidiaries without obtaining the consent of the Secretary of State.
(3)It shall be the duty of Scottish Homes to secure that none of its wholly owned subsidiaries borrows money otherwise than from Scottish Homes or from another wholly owned subsidiary of Scottish Homes, except with the consent of the Secretary of State and the approval of the Treasury.
(4)The Secretary of State may lend to Scottish Homes any sums which Scottish Homes has power to borrow from him under subsection (1) above, for such purposes as the Secretary of State may specify and the Treasury may issue to the Secretary of State out of the National Loans Fund any sums necessary to enable the Secretary of State to make loans in pursuance of this subsection.
(5)Any loans made in pursuance of subsection (4) above shall be repaid to the Secretary of State at such times and by such methods, and interest on the loans shall be paid to him at such times and at such rates, as he may from time to time direct; and all sums received by the Secretary of State in pursuance of this subsection shall be paid into the National Loans Fund.
(6)The Secretary of State shall prepare in respect of each financial year an account of the sums issued to him in pursuance of subsection (4) above and the sums received by him in pursuance of subsection (5) above and of the disposal by him of those sums, and shall send the account to the Comptroller and Auditor General before the end of the month of November next following the end of that year; and the Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on the account and lay copies of it and of his report before each House of Parliament.
(7)The Secretary of State shall not make a loan or give a direction in pursuance of this section except with the approval of the Treasury; and the form of the account prepared in pursuance of subsection (6) above and the manner of preparing it shall be such as the Treasury may direct.
(8)In this section and in sections 8, 10 and 11 below, “financial year” means the period beginning with the commencement of this section and ending with 31st March of the calendar year next following such commencement and each subsequent period of 12 months ending with 31st March.