(1)The Secretary of State and a local authority may enter an agreement (in this Act referred to as a “town scheme agreement”) that a specified sum of money shall be set aside for a specified period of years for the purpose of making grants for the repair of the buildings which are—
(a)included in a list compiled for the purposes of such an agreement by the Secretary of State and the authority, or
(b)shown on a map prepared by them for those purposes.
(2)Before such a list is compiled or such a map is prepared the Secretary of State and the local authority concerned shall consult the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland.
(1)The Secretary of State may make grants for the purpose of defraying the whole or part of any expenditure incurred or to be incurred in the repair of any building which—
(a)is the subject of a town scheme agreement, and
(b)is situated in a conservation area which appears to him to be of outstanding architectural or historic interest.
(2)A grant under this section may be made subject to conditions imposed by the Secretary of State for such purposes as he thinks fit.
(3)Unless the making of a grant under this section appears to the Secretary of State to be a matter of immediate urgency, before making the grant the Secretary of State may consult the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland as to the making of the grant and the conditions subject to which it should be made.
(4)The Secretary of State may—
(a)pay any grant under this section to any authority which is a party to a town scheme agreement, and
(b)make arrangements with any such authority for the way in which the agreement is to be carried out.
(5)Those arrangements may include such arrangements for the offer and payment of grants under this section as the parties may agree.
(6)Section 70(4) to (8) shall apply to a grant made under this section as it applies to a grant made under that section, but taking the recovery period to be 3 years beginning with the date on which the grant is made.