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| The New Opportunities Fund. |
7. - (1) In section 23 of the 1993 Act (the distributing bodies) after subsection (5) there shall be inserted-
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"(6) So much of any sum paid into the Distribution Fund as is allocated for expenditure on or connected with health, education or the environment shall be held in the Distribution Fund for distribution by the New Opportunities Fund (established under section 43A)."
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(2) After section 43 of the 1993 Act there shall be inserted-
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"The New Opportunities Fund |
| The New Opportunities Fund. |
43A. - (1) There shall be a body corporate known as the New Opportunities Fund.
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(2) Schedule 6A makes provision in relation to the New Opportunities Fund.
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| Functions of the New Opportunities Fund. |
43B. - (1) The New Opportunities Fund-
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(a) may make grants out of any money they receive to fund or assist in the funding of projects, or |
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(b) may make or enter into arrangements, |
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which are designed to give effect to such initiatives concerned or connected with health, education or the environment as may from time to time be specified in an order made by the Secretary of State.
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(2) In making a grant under this section, the New Opportunities Fund may impose such conditions as they think fit, including conditions requiring the amount of a grant to be repaid forthwith on breach of any condition.
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(3) The New Opportunities Fund may do anything that they consider desirable for enabling them to determine-
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(a) the projects in respect of which grants under this section are to be made; or |
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(b) the arrangements which are to be made or entered into under this section. |
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(4) The New Opportunities Fund may for the purpose of enabling them to exercise their functions acquire and dispose of land.
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| Provisions supplemental to section 43B. |
43C. - (1) In exercising their functions under section 43B the New Opportunities Fund shall comply with any directions given to them by the Secretary of State.
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(2) The Secretary of State shall consult the New Opportunities Fund before giving any directions to them under this section.
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(3) An initiative may be so framed that it applies-
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(a) throughout the whole of the United Kingdom; or |
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(b) in one or more areas of the United Kingdom. |
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(4) Before making an order under section 43B in respect of a particular initiative the Secretary of State shall consult such persons as appear to him to be appropriate.
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(5) Before revoking an order under section 43B the Secretary of State shall consult the New Opportunities Fund.
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(6) Any reference in this section to an initiative is a reference to an initiative specified in an order made under section 43B.
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(7) The report for any financial year of the New Opportunities Fund under section 34 shall set out any directions given to the Fund under this section that had effect during that year.
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| Accounts. |
43D. - (1) The New Opportunities Fund shall-
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(a) keep proper accounts and proper records in relation to the accounts, and |
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(b) prepare a statement of accounts in respect of each financial year. |
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(2) The statement shall comply with any directions that may be given by the Secretary of State as to the information to be contained in such a statement, the manner in which such information is to be presented or the methods and principles according to which such a statement is to be prepared.
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(3) Copies of the statement shall be sent to the Secretary of State and the Comptroller and Auditor General within such period after the end of the financial year to which the statement relates as the Secretary of State may direct.
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(4) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on the statement and shall lay copies of the statement and of his report before Parliament.
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(5) The Secretary of State shall not give a direction under this section without the Treasury's approval."
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(3) After Schedule 6 to the 1993 Act there shall be inserted the Schedule 6A set out in Schedule 2 to this Act.
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| Provisions supplemental to section 7. |
8. - (1) In section 35 of the 1993 Act (accounts of certain distributing bodies) in subsection (7) (section not to apply to the National Lottery Charities Board or to the Millennium Commission) for "or to the Millennium Commission" there shall be substituted ", the Millennium Commission or the New Opportunities Fund".
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(2) In section 44 of the 1993 Act (interpretation of Part II) after subsection (2) there shall be inserted-
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"(3) A project or arrangement shall be regarded for the purposes of this Part as concerned or connected with health, education or the environment notwithstanding that it contains incidental provision-
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(a) which is not concerned or connected with any of those matters; but |
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(b) which is necessary or expedient for the purposes of the project or arrangement." |
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(3) In the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, in Part III of Schedule 1 (other disqualifying offices) the following entry shall be inserted at the appropriate place-
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" Chairman of the New Opportunities Fund and, if in receipt of remuneration, any other member of that Fund;". |
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(4) The same entry as is set out in subsection (3) above shall be inserted at the appropriate place in Part III of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Assembly Disqualification Act 1975.
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(5) Any consultation undertaken before the commencement of section 7 above in connection with an initiative proposed to be specified in an order made under section 43B of the 1993 Act shall be as effective, in relation to that initiative, as if section 7 above had been in force at the time the consultation was undertaken.
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(6) Where any consultation has been undertaken before the commencement of section 7 above in connection with one or more initiatives proposed to be specified in an order made under section 43B of the 1993 Act, a statutory instrument containing an order under section 43B of that Act which specifies only that or those initiatives shall, notwithstanding the provisions of section 60(2) of the 1993 Act, be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
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(7) The payments which may be made under section 31 of the 1993 Act (payments from Distribution Fund into Consolidated Fund in respect of expenses) shall include a payment of such amount as the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury determines to be appropriate for defraying expenses incurred by the Secretary of State before the commencement of section 7 above for the purpose of facilitating the establishment of the New Opportunities Fund.
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Distributing bodies |
| Manner of distribution. |
9. - (1) In section 25 of the 1993 Act (application of money by distributing bodies) after subsection (1) there shall be inserted-
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"(1A) The manner in which a body may distribute any money paid to it under section 24 includes making or entering into arrangements for or in connection with meeting expenditure (including arrangements with respect to vouchers); and this subsection shall apply notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any enactment or instrument relating to the functions of the body."
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(2) In section 44 of the 1993 Act (interpretation of Part II) after subsection (3) (which is inserted by section 8 above) there shall be inserted-
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"(4) Any reference in this Part to the distribution of money shall be construed as including the making or entering into of arrangements in accordance with section 25(1A) or 43B; and related expressions used in this Part shall be construed accordingly."
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| Power of distributing bodies to solicit applications. |
10. In section 25 of the 1993 Act (application of money by distributing bodies) after subsection (2) there shall be inserted-
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"(2A) A body which distributes money under subsection (1) shall have power to solicit applications from other bodies or persons for any of the money which the body so distributes, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any enactment or instrument relating to the functions of the body.
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(2B) In determining whether a decision of a body concerning its distribution of money under subsection (1) was unlawful, it shall be immaterial whether or not the body, or any person acting on behalf of the body, solicited an application from a body or person for such money."
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| Delegation by distributing bodies of their powers of distribution. |
11. - (1) After section 25 of the 1993 Act there shall be inserted-
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| "Delegation by distributing bodies of their powers of distribution. |
25A. - (1) A body which distributes money under subsection (1) of section 25 may appoint any other body or person to exercise on its behalf any of its functions relating to, or connected with, the distribution of money under that subsection (including its function of making decisions as to the persons to whom such distributions are to be made)-
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(a) in any particular case, or |
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(b) in cases of any particular description. |
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(2) The persons who may be appointed by a body under subsection (1) include a member, employee or committee of the body itself.
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(3) A body which makes an appointment under subsection (1) may defray out of any money paid to it under section 24 any expenses incurred by the appointee in consequence of the appointment.
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(4) Power to accept any such appointment as is mentioned in subsection (1) is conferred by this subsection on the following bodies-
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(a) any body which distributes money under section 25(1), |
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(b) any charity or any charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution, |
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(c) any body established by or under an enactment, and |
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(d) any body established by Royal Charter. |
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(5) A body appointed by virtue of subsection (1) to exercise a function on behalf of another may itself appoint any of its members or employees, or a committee, to exercise the function in its stead, but only if-
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(a) the terms of the body's appointment by virtue of subsection (1) so permit, and |
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(b) the body has power apart from this section to appoint a member or, as the case may be, an employee or committee of the body to exercise some or all of its functions. |
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(6) Subject to the following provisions of this section-
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(a) a body which distributes money under section 25(1) may establish a committee for the purpose of exercising on behalf of the body any such function as is mentioned in subsection (1), and |
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(b) a body falling within any paragraph of subsection (4) may establish a committee for the purpose of exercising on behalf of any body which distributes money under section 25(1) any such function as is mentioned in subsection (1). |
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(7) A committee established under subsection (6)-
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(a) must consist of or include one or more members, or one or more employees, of the body establishing the committee, but |
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(b) may include persons who are neither members nor employees of that body. |
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(8) Any power conferred on a body by subsections (1) to (7) is so conferred-
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(a) to the extent that the body would not have the power apart from this section, and |
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(b) notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any enactment or instrument relating to the functions of the body. |
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(9) In this section-
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"charity" means a body, or the trustees of a trust, established for charitable purposes only; |
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"charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution" means a body, or the trustees of a trust, which is established for charitable purposes (whether or not those purposes are charitable within the meaning of any rule of law), benevolent purposes or philanthropic purposes, and which is not a charity. |
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(10) For the purposes of this section-
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(a) the trustees of a trust shall be regarded as a body, and |
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(b) any reference to a member of a body shall, in the case of a body of trustees, be taken as a reference to any of the trustees, |
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and references to a committee shall be construed accordingly.
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(11) Any reference in this section to a member of a body includes a reference to the chairman or deputy chairman of (or the holder of any corresponding office in relation to) the body."
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(2) In section 26 of the 1993 Act (directions to distributing bodies) after subsection (3) there shall be inserted-
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"(3A) In exercising any power under section 25A, a body which distributes money under section 25(1) shall comply with any directions given to it by the Secretary of State."
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(3) In subsection (4) of that section, after "Directions under subsection (3)" there shall be inserted "or (3A)".
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(4) After subsection (4) of that section there shall be inserted-
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"(4A) Directions under subsection (3A) may in particular-
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(a) impose limits on the amount of money which may be distributed by a body under section 25(1) by virtue of decisions made on its behalf by bodies or persons not falling within section 25A(2), and |
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(b) require a body, before appointing any body or person not falling within section 25A(2) to exercise on its behalf any function of making decisions concerning the distribution of money under section 25(1), to obtain the approval of the Secretary of State to its plans for making such appointments." |
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(5) In Schedule 5 to the 1993 Act (the National Lottery Charities Board) in paragraph 2 (committees) sub-paragraphs (4) to (6) (which are superseded by amendments made by this section) shall cease to have effect, and after sub-paragraph (6) there shall be inserted-
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"(7) Subsection (7) of section 25A shall apply in relation to any committee of the Charities Board as it applies in relation to a committee appointed under subsection (6) of that section."
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(6) In paragraph 3 of that Schedule (tenure of office) in sub-paragraph (4)(a) (removal on grounds of absence from meetings) for "or (as the case may be) from meetings of the committee without the committee's consent" there shall be substituted "or from meetings of a committee of the Board without the committee's consent".
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