Regional Development Agencies Bill

Regional Development Agencies Bill - continued	House of Commons
PART I, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES - continued
Financial arrangements - continued

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Government guarantees of an agency's borrowing.	12. - (1) The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, guarantee, in such manner and on such conditions as he may think fit, the repayment of the principal of, the payment of interest on, and the discharge of any other financial obligation in connection with, any sum which a regional development agency borrows from any person.
	(2) Where the Secretary of State gives a guarantee under this section he shall forthwith lay a statement of the guarantee before each House of Parliament.
	(3) Where any sum is paid out for fulfilling a guarantee under this section, the Secretary of State shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year (beginning with that in which the sum is paid out and ending with that in which all liability in respect of the principal of the sum and in respect of interest on it is finally discharged), lay before each House of Parliament a statement relating to that sum.
	(4) If any sums are paid out in fulfilment of a guarantee under this section, the regional development agency which borrowed the sum by reference to which the guarantee was given shall make to the Secretary of State, at such times and in such manner as he may from time to time direct-
	(a) payments of such amounts as he may so direct in or towards repayment of the sums so paid out, and
	(b) payments of interest, at such rate as he may so direct, on what is outstanding for the time being in respect of sums so paid out,
	and the consent of the Treasury shall be required for the giving of a direction under this subsection.
Government loans.	13. - (1) The Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, lend to a regional development agency any sums which it has power to borrow under section 11(4).
	(2) Any loan made under this section shall be repaid to the Secretary of State at such times and by such methods, and interest on the loan shall be paid to him at such rates and at such times, as he may with the approval of the Treasury from time to time determine.
	(3) If in any financial year the Secretary of State lends any sums to a regional development agency under this section, he shall-
	(a) prepare in respect of that financial year an account of the sums so lent by him, and
	(b) send that account to the Comptroller and Auditor General before the end of September in the following financial year,
	and the form of the account and the manner of preparing it shall be such as the Treasury may direct.
	(4) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on each account sent to him under this section and shall lay copies of it and of his report before each House of Parliament.
	(5) The Treasury may issue to the Secretary of State out of the National Loans Fund such sums as are necessary to enable him to make loans to a regional development agency under this section; and any sums received by the Secretary of State in pursuance of subsection (2) shall be paid into the National Loans Fund.
Accounts and records.	14. - (1) A regional development agency shall-
	(a) keep proper accounts and proper accounting records, and
	(b) prepare in respect of each accounting period a statement of accounts giving a true and fair view of the state of affairs and the income and expenditure of the agency.
	(2) Every statement of accounts prepared under subsection (1) shall comply with any requirement which the Secretary of State has, with the consent of the Treasury, notified in writing to the agency and which relates to any of the following matters, namely-
	(a) the information to be contained in the statement,
	(b) the manner in which that information is to be presented, or
	(c) the methods and principles according to which the statement is to be prepared.
	(3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), "accounting period", in relation to a regional development agency, means a period beginning with 1st April and ending with the next 31st March.
	(4) The Secretary of State may, in relation to an accounting period of a regional development agency, direct that the period shall end with such date other than the next 31st March as may be specified in the direction.
	(5) Where the Secretary of State has given a direction under subsection (4), the following accounting period of the agency to which the direction was given shall begin with the day after the date specified in the direction and, subject to any further direction under subsection (4), shall end with the next 31st March.
	(6) In this section, "accounting records", in relation to a regional development agency, includes all books, papers and other records of the agency relating to, or to matters dealt with in, the accounts required to be kept by this section.
Audit.	15. - (1) The accounts of a regional development agency for each accounting period shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
	(2) A copy of-
	(a) any accounts of a regional development agency which are audited under subsection (1), and
	(b) the report made on those accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General,
	shall be sent to the Secretary of State as soon as reasonably practicable after the report is received by the agency; and the Secretary of State shall lay before each House of Parliament a copy of those accounts and that report.
	(3) In this section-
	"accounting period" and "accounting records" have the same meanings as in section 14; and
	references to accounts, in relation to a regional development agency, include any statement prepared by it under that section.
	Information, reports and accountability
Provision of information etc. to the Secretary of State.	16. A regional development agency shall provide the Secretary of State with such information, advice and assistance as he may require.
Annual report.	17. - (1) As soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each accounting period, a regional development agency shall prepare a report on its activities during that period and shall send a copy of that report to the Secretary of State.
	(2) A report under this section shall-
	(a) be in such form and contain such information as the Secretary of State may specify by directions to the agency, and
	(b) set out any other directions given to the agency under this Part during the period to which the report relates.
	(3) Following receipt of a report under this section, the Secretary of State shall lay a copy of it before each House of Parliament and arrange for copies of it to be published in such manner as he considers appropriate.
	(4) In this section, "accounting period" has the same meaning as in section 14.
Regional accountability.	18. - (1) The Secretary of State may by directions require a regional development agency for which there is a regional chamber under section 8(1)-
	(a) to supply the chamber with information of such description as may be specified in the directions,
	(b) to answer questions put by the chamber about information supplied to it by the agency and to do so in such manner as may be so specified, and
	(c) to take such other steps for the purpose of accounting to the chamber for the exercise of its functions as may be so specified.
	(2) A regional development agency shall hold a public meeting within such period after the publication of its annual report as the Secretary of State may by directions specify.
	(3) A regional development agency shall give such notice of a meeting held for the purposes of subsection (2) as the Secretary of State may by directions specify and publish it in such manner as he may so specify.
	(4) The Secretary of State may give a regional development agency guidance and directions with respect to the conduct of a meeting held for the purposes of subsection (2).
	Vesting and acquisition of land
Vesting of land by order.	19. - (1) The Secretary of State may, in relation to land in England, by order made by statutory instrument provide that land specified in the order which is vested in a local authority or other public body or in a wholly-owned subsidiary of a public body shall vest in a regional development agency.
	(2) An order under subsection (1) may not specify land vested in statutory undertakers which is used for the purpose of carrying on their statutory undertakings or which is held for that purpose.
	(3) In the case of land vested in statutory undertakers, the power to make an order under subsection (1) shall be exercisable by the Secretary of State and the appropriate Minister.
	(4) The reference in subsection (3) to the Secretary of State and the appropriate Minister shall-
	(a) in relation to statutory undertakers who are or are deemed to be statutory undertakers for the purposes of any provision of Part XI of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, be construed as if contained in that Part, and
	(b) in relation to any other statutory undertakers, be construed in accordance with an order made by the Secretary of State.
	(5) If, for the purposes of subsection (3), any question arises as to which Minister is the appropriate Minister in relation to any statutory undertakers, that question shall be determined by the Treasury.
	(6) An order under subsection (1) shall have the same effect as a declaration under the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981 except that, in relation to such an order, the enactments mentioned in Schedule 4 shall have effect subject to the modifications specified there.
	(7) Compensation under the Land Compensation Act 1961, as applied by subsection (6) and Schedule 4, shall be assessed by reference to values current on the date the order under subsection (1) comes into force.
	(8) No compensation is payable under Part IV of the Land Compensation Act 1961 by virtue of an order under subsection (1).
	(9) No order under subsection (1) shall be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
	(10) In this section-
	"local authority" also includes a county borough council and a parish council;
	"statutory undertakers", except where the context otherwise requires, means-
	(a) persons authorised by any enactment to carry on any railway, light railway, tramway, road transport, water transport, canal, inland navigation, dock, harbour, pier or lighthouse undertaking, or any undertaking for the supply of hydraulic power,
	(b) a relevant airport operator (within the meaning of the Airports Act 1986),
	(c) British Shipbuilders, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Post Office,
	(d) any other authority, body or undertakers specified in an order made by the Secretary of State by statutory instrument, and
	(e) any wholly-owned subsidiary of any person, authority or body mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c) or of any authority, body or undertakers specified in an order under paragraph (d);
	and "statutory undertaking" shall be construed accordingly;
	"wholly-owned subsidiary" has the meaning given by section 736 of the Companies Act 1985.
	(11) A statutory instrument containing an order under subsection (4) or (10) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
Acquisition of land.	20. - (1) A regional development agency may for its purposes, or for purposes incidental thereto, acquire land by agreement or, on being authorised to do so by the Secretary of State, compulsorily.
	(2) A regional development agency may, for those purposes, be authorised by the Secretary of State, by means of a compulsory purchase order, to acquire compulsorily such new rights over land as are specified in the order.
	(3) Where the land referred to in subsection (1) or (2) forms part of a common, open space or fuel or field garden allotment, a regional development agency may acquire (by agreement or, on being authorised to do so by the Secretary of State, compulsorily) land for giving in exchange for the land or, as the case may be, rights acquired.
	(4) The Acquisition of Land Act 1981 shall apply to the compulsory acquisition of land by virtue of subsection (1) or (3), subject to the modifications specified in Part I of Schedule 5.
	(5) Schedule 3 to that Act shall apply to the compulsory acquisition of a right by virtue of subsection (2), but with the modification that the reference in paragraph 4(3) to statutory undertakers includes a reference to a regional development agency.
	(6) Part II of Schedule 5 (which applies the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 to the acquisition of rights by virtue of subsection (2)) shall have effect.
	(7) The provisions of Part I of that Act (so far as applicable), other than section 31, shall apply to the acquisition of land by a regional development agency by agreement; and, in that Part as so applied, "land" has the meaning given by the Interpretation Act 1978.
	(8) In subsection (2)-
	"new rights over land" means rights over land which are not in existence when the order specifying them is made;
	"compulsory purchase order" has the same meaning as in the Acquisition of Land Act 1981.
Rights of entry.	21. - (1) Any person who is duly authorised in writing by a regional development agency may at any reasonable time enter any land for the purpose of surveying it, or estimating its value, in connection with-
	(a) any proposal by the agency to acquire the land or any other land, or
	(b) any claim for compensation in respect of any such acquisition.
	(2) A person authorised under this section to enter any land shall, if so required, produce evidence of his authority before entry.
	(3) A person authorised under this section to enter any land shall not demand admission as of right to any land which is occupied unless 28 days' notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier.
	(4) The power under subsection (1) to survey land includes power to search, bore and remove soil samples for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the subsoil or the presence in it of minerals or pollutants.
	(5) In the case of land which is occupied, no person shall carry out under this section any works authorised by virtue of subsection (4) unless notice of his intention to do so was included in the notice required by subsection (3).
	(6) The authority of the appropriate Minister shall be required for the carrying out under this section of works authorised by virtue of subsection (4) if the land in question is held by statutory undertakers and they object to the proposed works on the ground that the execution of the works would be seriously detrimental to the carrying on of their undertaking.
	(7) Where any land is damaged-
	(a) in the exercise of a right of entry conferred under this section, or
	(b) in the making of any survey for the purpose of which any such right of entry has been so conferred,
	compensation in respect of the damage may be recovered by any person interested in the land from the regional development agency which authorised the exercise of the powers conferred by this section.
	(8) The provisions of section 118 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (determination of claims for compensation) shall apply in relation to compensation under subsection (7) as they apply in relation to compensation under Part IV of that Act.
	(9) Expressions used in subsection (6) have the same meanings as they have in section 325(9) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (supplementary provisions as to rights of entry).

Prepared 10 December 1997