Local Government and Housing Act 1989

Amounts set aside to meet credit liabilities

63 Duty to set certain amounts aside as provision to meet credit liabilities

(1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Part under which a local authority are required or authorised to set aside any amount as provision to meet credit liabilities, in each financial year a local authority shall, by virtue of this section, set aside, from such revenue account or accounts as the authority think fit, as provision to meet credit liabilities, an amount determined by the authority, being not less than the minimum revenue provision for that year referred to in Part IV of Schedule 3 to this Act.

(2) Where, by virtue of section 157 below, the Secretary of State makes to a local authority a commuted payment, within the meaning of that section, the authority shall, at the time the payment is received, set aside an amount equal to that payment as provision to meet credit liabilities.

(3) If, otherwise than by virtue of section 157 below, the Secretary of State or any other Minister of the Crown commutes into a single payment (or into a smaller number of payments than would otherwise be payable) sums which would otherwise have been paid to a local authority annually or by reference to any other period of time, the authority shall, at the time that single payment or, as the case may be, each of that smaller number of payments is received, set aside an amount equal to the payment as provision to meet credit liabilities.

(4) Where a local authority receive any sum by way of grant from a Community institution towards the authority’s expenditure on capital purposes, they shall at the time the sum is received, set aside an amount equal to that sum as provision to meet credit liabilities.

(5) A determination under subsection (1) above shall be made not later than 30th September in the financial year following that to which the determination relates.

64 Use of amounts set aside to meet credit liabilities

(1) Amounts for the time being set aside by a local authority (whether voluntarily or pursuant to a requirement under this Part) as provision to meet credit liabilities may, subject to subsection (2) below, be applied only for one or more of the following purposes—

(a) to meet any liability of the authority in respect of money borrowed by the authority, other than a liability in respect of interest;

(b) to meet any liability of the authority in respect of credit arrangements, other than those excluded by regulations under paragraph 11 of Schedule 3 to this Act; and

(c) where a credit approval has been used as authority not to charge particular expenditure to a revenue account, to meet that expenditure.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this section if, on the date which is the relevant date for any financial year, a local authority’s credit ceiling, as determined under Part III of Schedule 3 to this Act, is a negative amount, any such amount as is referred to in subsection (1) above may in that financial year—

(a) be applied for purposes specified by regulations made by the Secretary of State; or

(b) be transferred to a body so specified.

(3) The aggregate of the amounts which may be applied by a local authority in accordance with subsection (2) above in any financial year shall not exceed the amount by which the authority’s credit ceiling on the relevant date is less than nil.

(4) References in subsections (2) and (3) above to the relevant date shall be construed as follows—

(a) for the financial year beginning on 1st April 1990, the relevant date is that date; and

(b) for any subsequent financial year, the relevant date is the last day of the preceding financial year.

(5) Regulations under subsection (2) above may specify conditions with which a local authority must comply in applying or transferring any amount as mentioned in that subsection and with respect to any amount so applied or transferred; and an amount shall not be taken to be applied or transferred under that subsection unless any such conditions are complied with.