40. In section 115 of the principal Act (expenditure for special purposes)—
(a)in subsection (1)—
(i)after “interests” there shall be inserted “of, and will bring direct benefit to”;
(ii)in paragraph (a) “of” shall be omitted;
(iii)in paragraph (b) “of” shall be omitted in the first and second place where it occurs;
(iv)in paragraph (c) “of” shall be omitted in the first and third place where it occurs;
(b)in subsection (3)—
(i)after “section” there shall be inserted “(a)”;
(ii)at the end there shall be inserted
“or
(b)unless the direct benefit accruing to its district or any part of its district or to the inhabitants of its district or any part of its district will be commensurate with the payments to be made.”;
(c)after subsection (3) there shall be added—
“(4) In any case where—
(a)by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (3) a council is prohibited from making any payment for a particular purpose; and
(b)the power or duty of the council to make any payment for that purpose is in any respect limited or conditional (whether by being restricted to a particular group of persons or in any other way), the prohibition in that paragraph shall extend to all payments to which that power or duty would apply if it were not subject to any limitation or condition.
(5) A council may make a payment under subsection (1) on publicity only by way of assistance to a public body or a voluntary body where the publicity is incidental to the main purpose for which the assistance is given.”.