Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975

16 (1) Where a sum is advanced from the loans fund in accordance with paragraph 14 above for any of the following purposes— S

(a) meeting expenditure on the construction of new, or the extension or alteration of existing, works forming or to form part of an undertaking of revenue-producing character;

(b) carrying out on land any other operations, being operations of a prescribed kind or operations specified in relation to that land by direction of the Secretary of State;

(c) acquiring land for the purpose of the construction thereon of new, or the extension or alteration of existing, works forming or to form part of an undertaking of a revenue-producing character, or for the purpose of the carrying out thereon of operations of a kind prescribed by virtue of paragraph (b) above, or operations specified in relation to that land by direction of the Secretary of State;

(d) acquiring land specified by direction of the Secretary of State;

the authority may, subject to the consent of the Secretary of State, suspend in whole or in part any annual provision required under paragraph 15 above for the repayment from the borrowing account or by the relevant authority of the sum so advanced for such period (not being a period longer than the period during which the expenditure remains unremunerative or the period of five years from the commencement of the year next after that in which the expenditure commences to be incurred, whichever is the shorter) and subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State may determine.

(2) Where any annual provision required to be made for the repayment of any sum has been suspended under sub-paragraph (1) above, a local authority may borrow for the purpose of payment, during the period of the suspension, of interest on that sum.

(3) Where by virtue of paragraph 15 above a local authority are required to debit a sum to the borrowing account or charge a sum to a relevant authority and they suspend, in whole or in part, any annual provision for the repayment of the principal, they may refrain from debiting to that account or charging to the relevant authority an amount equal to the amount of the annual provision so suspended.

(4) In this paragraph “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.