Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004

17 Levy to pay expenses of bodies concerned with accounting standards etc.

(1) For the purpose of meeting any part of the expenses of a grant-aided body, the Secretary of State may by regulations provide for a levy to be payable to that body (“the specified recipient”) by bodies or persons which are specified, or are of a description specified, in the regulations.

(2) For the purposes of this section—

(a) “grant-aided body” means a body to whom the Secretary of State has paid, or is proposing to pay, grant under section 16; and

(b) any expenses of any body carrying on subsidiary activities of the grant-aided body (within the meaning of that section) are to be regarded as expenses of the grant-aided body.

(3) The power to specify (or to specify descriptions of) bodies or persons must be exercised in such a way that the levy is only payable by—

(a) bodies corporate to which the Secretary of State considers that any of the activities of the specified recipient, or any of its subsidiary activities, are relevant to a significant extent, or

(b) bodies or persons who the Secretary of State considers have a major interest in any of those activities being carried on.

(4) Regulations under this section may in particular—

(a) specify the rate of the levy and the period in respect of which it is payable at that rate;

(b) make provision as to the times when, and the manner in which, payments are to be made in respect of the levy.

(5) In determining the rate of the levy payable in respect of a particular period, the Secretary of State—

(a) must take into account the amount of any grant which is to be or has been made to the specified recipient in respect of that period under section 16;

(b) may take into account estimated as well as actual expenses of that body in respect of that period.

(6) Any amount of levy payable by any body or person is a debt due from the body or person to the specified recipient, and is recoverable accordingly.

(7) The specified recipient must—

(a) keep proper accounts in respect of amounts of levy received, and

(b) prepare in relation to each levy period a statement of account relating to such amounts in such form and manner as is specified in the regulations.

(8) Those accounts must be audited, and the statement certified, by persons appointed by the Secretary of State.

(9) The power to make regulations under this section is exercisable by statutory instrument.

(10) Regulations to which this subsection applies may not be made unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

(11) Subsection (10) applies to—

(a) the first regulations under this section, and

(b) any other regulations under this section that would result in any change in the bodies or persons by whom the levy is payable.

(12) Otherwise, any statutory instrument containing regulations under this section is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.