(1)The Council shall be responsible, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, for administering funds made available to the Council by the Secretary of State and others for the purposes of providing financial support for activities eligible for funding under this section.
(2)The activities eligible for funding under this section are—
(a)the provision of education and the undertaking of research by such institutions in Scotland as are within the higher education sector;
(b)the provision of any facilities, and the carrying on of any other activities, by such institutions in Scotland as are within the higher education sector which the governing bodies of those institutions consider it necessary or desirable to provide or carry on for the purpose of or in connection with education or research;
(c)the provision of services by any person for the purpose of, or in connection with, the provision of education or the undertaking of research by such institutions in Scotland as are within the higher education sector;
(d)the provision of such courses of higher education as the Secretary of State may direct as are provided in colleges of further education within the meaning of section 36(1) of this Act; and
(e)the provision of such courses in such other institutions in Scotland under the management of or receiving assistance by way of payments from education authorities as the Secretary of State may direct.
(3)The Council may—
(a)make grants, loans or other payments to the governing body of any institution within the higher education sector in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by them for the purposes of any activities eligible for funding under this section by virtue of subsection (2)(a) or (b) above;
(b)make grants, loans or other payments to any person in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by him for the purpose of the provision of any services eligible for funding under this section by virtue of subsection (2)(c) above; and
(c)make grants, loans or other payments to the board of management of a college of further education within the meaning of Part I of this Act, an education authority or such other person as they consider appropriate in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by them for the purpose of the provision as mentioned in subsection (2)(d) and (e) above of such courses of higher education as the Secretary of State may direct,
subject in each case to such terms and conditions as the Council think fit.
(4)The terms and conditions on which the Council may make any grants, loans or other payments under this section may in particular—
(a)enable the Council to require the repayment, in whole or in part, of sums paid by the Council if any of the terms and conditions subject to which the sums were paid is not complied with; and
(b)require the payment of interest in respect of any period during which a sum due to the Council in accordance with any of the terms and conditions remains unpaid,
but shall not relate to the application by the body to whom the grants or other payments are made of any sums derived otherwise than from the Council.
(1)Before exercising their discretion under section 40(3)(a) of this Act with respect to the terms and conditions to be imposed in relation to any grants, loans or other payments, the Council shall consult such of the following bodies as appear to the Council to be appropriate to consult in the circumstances—
(a)such bodies representing the interests of institutions within the higher education sector as appear to the Council to be concerned; and
(b)the governing body of any particular institution within that sector which appears to the Council to be concerned.
(2)In exercising their functions in relation to the provision of financial support for activities eligible for funding under section 40 of this Act the Council shall have regard to the desirability of not discouraging any institution for whose activities financial support is provided under that section from maintaining or developing its funding from other sources.
(3)In exercising the functions mentioned in subsection (2) above, the Council shall have regard (so far as they think it appropriate to do so in the light of any other relevant considerations) to the desirability of maintaining any distinctive characteristics of any institution within that sector for whose activities financial support is provided under the said section 40.
(1)The Secretary of State may make grants to the Council of such amounts and subject to such terms and conditions as he may determine.
(2)The terms and conditions subject to which grants are made by the Secretary of State to the Council—
(a)may in particular impose requirements to be complied with in respect of every institution, or every institution falling within a class or description specified in the terms and conditions, being requirements to be complied with in the case of any institution to which the requirements apply before financial support of any amount or description so specified is provided by the Council in respect of activities carried on by the institution; but
(b)shall not otherwise relate to the provision of financial support by the Council in respect of activities carried on by any particular institution or institutions.
(3)Such terms and conditions may not be framed by reference to particular courses of study or programmes of research (including the contents of such courses or programmes and the manner in which they are taught, supervised or assessed) or to the criteria for the selection and appointment of academic staff and for the admission of students.
(4)Such terms and conditions may in particular—
(a)enable the Secretary of State to require the repayment, in whole or in part, of sums paid by him if any of the terms and conditions subject to which the sums were paid is not complied with; and
(b)require the payment of interest in respect of any period during which a sum due to the Secretary of State in accordance with any of the terms and conditions remains unpaid.