Sections 408 and 409: Transfers of property, rights or liabilities and transfer schemes
618.Sections 408 and 409 make provision to enable the transfer of such property, rights or liabilities as a Minister of the Crown considers appropriate to be made from various bodies and persons (referred to in these notes as the “predecessor bodies”) to various bodies or persons (referred to in these notes as the “successor bodies”). The predecessor bodies and the successor bodies are listed in section 408. Such transfers may be effected in two ways. A Minister of the Crown may make provision for transfers to take place by Order. Such an order would be made by a statutory instrument subject to the negative resolution procedure. Alternatively, a Minister of the Crown can instruct the predecessor body itself to prepare a transfer scheme. There is no requirement that transfer schemes should be laid before Parliament. A Minister of the Crown would also be able to make transfer schemes himself in relation to property, rights and liabilities of the Crown, such as those relating to the Highways Agency. Sections 408(4) and 409(3) specify the circumstances in which the power of a Minister to make an Order, and the powers in relation to the making of transfer schemes, are exercisable. These circumstances include the exercise of powers for the general purpose or any particular purpose of the Act.
619.The sections also provide for transfers, whether by order or transfer scheme under the Act, from the Urban Regeneration Agency or the Commission for the New Towns to the LDA. Section 38 of the RDA Act 1998 which, relates to corporation tax, is applied to such transfers. This will ensure, in particular, that any expenditure incurred by those predecessor bodies in developing land for regeneration can be set off against tax payable on the proceeds of sale of that land by the LDA.
