Government Trading Funds Act 1973

4 Management and accounting

(1) A trading fund established under this Act for any Crown service shall be under the control and management of the responsible Minister; and in the discharge of his functions in relation to the fund it shall be his duty—

(a) to manage the funded operations so that the revenue of the fund is not less than sufficient, taking one year with another, to meet outgoings which are properly chargeable to revenue account; and

(b) to achieve such further financial objectives as the Treasury may from time to time, by minute laid before the House of Commons, indicate as having been determined by the responsible Minister (with Treasury concurrence) to be desirable of achievement.

(2) With Treasury concurrence, the responsible Minister may establish and maintain general, capital and other reserves in the accounts of the trading fund.

(3) If at any time it appears to the responsible Minister that any amount standing in the reserves of the trading fund is surplus to any forseeable requirements of the funded operations, and he so directs with Treasury concurrence, that amount shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

(4) In the case of a trading fund not comprising public dividend capital designated under section 2(2) above, any excess of the revenues of the fund for a financial year over the total sums properly chargeable to revenue account for that year shall be applied by the responsible Minister for such purposes of the funded operations as he may determine with Treasury concurrence, or the whole or part of the excess may, if he so directs (with that concurrence), be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

(5) Any money in the fund which appears to the responsible Minister not to be immediately required for the funded operations may be invested by him in such securities of the Government of the United Kingdom or of the Government of Northern Ireland as the Treasury may approve, including Treasury Bills and Ways and Means advances.

(6) The Treasury shall appoint an accounting officer for the fund, with responsibility for keeping its accounts and proper records in relation thereto, and preparing and signing a statement of the accounts in respect of each financial year; and—

(a) the annual statement of accounts shall be in a form approved by the Treasury and contain such additional information with respect to financial results in the previous year as the Treasury may require to be provided for the information of Parliament; and

(b) the statement in respect of each financial year shall, on or before 30th November next following the end of that year, be transmitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General, who shall examine and certify the statement and lay copies thereof, together with his report thereon, before Parliament.

(7) As respects any financial year during the whole of which the operations of a service are financed by means of a trading fund established under this Act, section 5 of the [1921 c. 52.] Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921 (preparation and examination of accounts of trading services conducted by government departments) shall not apply to that service; but otherwise subsection (6) above is without prejudice to anything in that Act or the [1866 c. 39.] Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866.