Broadcasting Act 1990

27 Application of excess revenues of Corporation

(1) Where the qualifying revenue of the Corporation for any year exceeds the Corporation’s prescribed minimum income for that year, the Corporation shall—

(a) pay one half of the excess to the Commission; and

(b) apply the other half in accordance with subsection (3).

(2) Where the Commission receive any amount under subsection (1)(a) in respect of any year, they shall distribute that amount (“the relevant amount”) between the holders of Channel 3 licences in such a way that each of them receives such proportion of the relevant amount as corresponds to the proportion of the aggregate amount referred to in subsection (4) of section 26 which he would, in the opinion of the Commission, have been required to pay if a levy had been imposed for that year under subsection (3) of that section.

(3) Where subsection (1)(b) has effect in relation to any amount—

(a) half of that amount shall be carried by the Corporation to the credit of a reserve fund established by them under this subsection, and

(b) the other half may be applied by the Corporation towards meeting current expenditure incurred by them in connection with the provision of Channel 4, but to the extent that it is not so applied shall be carried to the credit of that fund;

and (subject to the following provisions of this section) the management and application of that fund shall be as the Corporation may determine.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), no part of that fund shall be applied otherwise than for the purposes of Channel 4; and no direction may be given by the Secretary of State under that subsection with respect to the application of any amount for the time being standing to the credit of that fund which has been taken into account by the Commission for the purposes of section 26(3)(b) or (8)(b).

(5) The Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, give to the Corporation such directions as he thinks fit with respect to the management and application of that fund (including directions requiring the whole or part of it to be paid into the Consolidated Fund); and the Corporation shall comply with any such directions.

(6) In subsection (1) above the reference to the Corporation’s prescribed minimum income for any year shall be construed in accordance with section 26(2); and subsections (2) to (6) of section 19 shall have effect for determining the Corporation’s qualifying revenue for any year for the purposes of subsection (1) above as they have effect for determining a person’s qualifying revenue for any accounting period of his for the purposes of subsection (1)(c) of that section.