Energy Act 2004

Financial limits for publicly controlled transferees that are not designated

6 (1) The aggregate amount outstanding by way of principal in respect of the amounts specified in sub-paragraph (2) must not exceed £100 million.

(2) Those amounts are—

(a) money borrowed by BNFL or by the UKAEA the liability to pay which falls, by virtue of one or more nuclear transfer schemes, on a company which at the time when the scheme came into force was publicly controlled but was neither a designated BNFL company nor a subsidiary of the UKAEA;

(b) money borrowed by a transferee company which at the time of the borrowing was publicly controlled but not a designated BNFL company;

(c) borrowed money for the repayment of which a publicly controlled transferee company which is not a designated BNFL company is a guarantor or a surety; and

(d) sums paid by the Secretary of State in fulfilment of guarantees given under paragraph 4 in respect of borrowing by a transferee company which at the time of the giving of the guarantee was publicly controlled but was not a designated BNFL company.

(3) Borrowing by a wholly-owned subsidiary of a company (“the holding company”) which would not otherwise be taken into account for the purposes of this paragraph shall be taken into account as if it were borrowing by the holding company; but borrowing—

(a) between a company and any of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, or

(b) between two such subsidiaries,

shall not be taken into account.

(4) Nothing in this paragraph—

(a) restricts the amount that may be borrowed by a company that has ceased to be publicly controlled; or

(b) requires amounts in respect of the liabilities of such a company to repay borrowing to be taken into account for the purposes of this paragraph, except in so far as they are liabilities to repay the Secretary of State.

(5) The Secretary of State may by order—

(a) increase the limit for the time being specified in sub-paragraph (1); or

(b) provide for the apportionment of that limit between the different companies in relation to which it applies and for its application as apportioned.

(6) An order apportioning the limit between different companies may provide for the amount apportioned to a particular company to be nil.

(7) No order is to be made containing provision increasing that limit unless a draft of the order has been—

(a) laid before Parliament; and

(b) approved by a resolution of the House of Commons.

(8) An order under this paragraph providing for the apportionment of that limit between different companies to which it applies must be laid before Parliament.