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Each Board shall charge to revenue in every year all charges which are proper to be made to revenue, including, in particular, proper provision for the depreciation or renewal of assets and proper allocations to general reserve, and the reference in subsection (1) of this section and other references in this Act to charges properly chargeable to revenue shall be construed accordingly.

Without prejudice to the Board’s powers to establish specific reserves, each Board shall establish and maintain a general reserve.

Each of the Boards may, with the consent of the Minister given with the approval of the Treasury, make charges to capital account representing interest on expenditure of a capital nature (including expenditure of a capital nature incurred by the Commission before the vesting date), being interest for any period which ends on or before the end of the accounting period in which the project or scheme to which the expenditure relates is in the opinion of the Minister completed.

This section shall have effect subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act relating to the Railways Board and the British Waterways Board.

Subject to the limit in subsection (3) of this section, each of the Boards may borrow temporarily, by way of overdraft or otherwise, either from the Minister or, with the consent of the Minister, from any other person, such sums as the Board may require for meeting their obligations or discharging their functions under this Act, but the aggregate of the amounts outstanding in respect of any temporary loans raised by a Board under this subsection shall not exceed such limit as the Minister may for the time being have imposed on that Board for the purposes of this subsection by a direction given to the Board.

In any financial year the net amount of sums borrowed by the British Waterways Board under this section for discharging their functions under this Act or for meeting their obligations in connection with the discharge of their functions shall not exceed the amount specified for that year for the purposes of this subsection in a Budget Act.

A Board shall not have power to borrow money except in accordance with this section.

This section shall have effect subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act relating to the Railways Board and the British Waterways Board.

Subject to this Act the Minister may with the approval of the Treasury lend to a Board any sums which that Board have power to borrow under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of the last foregoing section.

Any loans which the Minister makes under this section shall be repaid to him at such times and by such methods, and interest thereon shall be paid to him at such rates and at such times, as he may with the approval of the Treasury from time to time direct.

The Treasury may issue out of the F5National Loans Fund to the Minister such sums as are necessary to enable him to make loans under subsection (1) of this section.

For the purpose of providing sums to be issued under the last foregoing subsection, or of providing for the replacement of sums so issued, the Treasury may at any time, if they think fit, raise money in any manner in which they are authorised to raise money under the National Loans Act, 1939, and any securities created and issued to raise money under this subsection shall be deemed for all purposes to have been created and issued under that Act.

Any sums received by the Minister under subsection (2) of this section shall be paid into the F5National Loans Fund . . . F7

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F8

The Treasury may guarantee, in such manner and on such conditions as they may think fit, the repayment of the principal of, F10the payment of interest on and the discharge of any other financial obligation in connection with, any sums which a Board F29other than the British Waterways Board borrow from a person other than the Minister in exercise of their powers under . . . F11 section nineteen of this Act.

Immediately after any guarantee is given under this section the Treasury shall lay a statement of the guarantee before each House of Parliament, and where any sum is issued for fulfilling such a guarantee the Treasury shall, as soon as possible after the end of each financial year, beginning with that in which the sum is issued and ending with that in which all liability in respect of the principal of the sum and in respect of interest thereon is finally discharged, lay before each House of Parliament a statement relating to that sum.

Any sums required by the Treasury for fulfilling any guarantee under this section shall be charged on and issued out of the Consolidated Fund.

If any sums are issued in fulfilment of any guarantee given under this section in favour of a Board, that Board shall make to the Treasury, at such times and in such manner as the Treasury may from time to time direct, payments of such amounts as the Treasury may so direct in or towards repayment of the sums so issued, and payments of interest on what is outstanding for the time being in respect of sums so issued at such rate as the Treasury may so direct.

Any sums received by the Treasury under the last foregoing subsection shall be paid into the Exchequer.

As soon as possible after any guarantee is given under this section by the Scottish Ministers, the Scottish Ministers shall lay a statement of the guarantee before the Scottish Parliament, and where any sum is issued for fulfilling such a guarantee the Scottish Ministers shall, as soon as possible after the end of each financial year, beginning with that in which the sum is issued and ending with that in which all liability in respect of the principal of the sum and in respect of interest thereon is finally discharged, lay before the Scottish Parliament a statement relating to that sum.

Any sums required by the Scottish Ministers for fulfilling any guarantee under this section shall be charged on the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

If any sums are issued in fulfilment of any guarantee given under this section by the Scottish Ministers in favour of the British Waterways Board, that Board shall make to the Scottish Ministers, at such times and in such manner as the Scottish Ministers may from time to time direct, payments of such amounts as the Scottish Ministers may so direct in or towards repayment of the sums so issued, and payments of interest on what is outstanding for the time being in respect of sums so issued at such rate as the Scottish Ministers may so direct.

Grants under this section may be made subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury determine.

Any sums required by the Secretary of State for making grants under this section shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.

This section is without prejudice to any other power to make grants to the Railways Board.

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F15 for the purposes of subsection (1) of section eighteen of this Act as it applies to the Railways Board, the Railways Board shall take into consideration deficits on revenue account arising at any time after the vesting date, except so far as the Minister has, under subsection (1) of this section, made a grant to meet any such deficit.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F16

The accounts of each BoardF32, other than the British Waterways Board, shall be audited by an auditor or auditors to be appointed annually by the Minister F33... and a person F18shall not be so appointed unless he is eligible for appointment as a F20statutory auditor under Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006.

So soon as the accounts of a Board have been audited as aforesaid, they shall send a copy of the statement of accounts referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section to the Minister F36..., together with a copy of the report made by the auditor or auditors on that statement, and a copy of that statement and of any such report shall be included in the report which is under this Act to be laid by the Minister annually before each House of Parliament F36....

The British Waterways Board must send the statement of accounts to the Auditor General for Scotland for auditing.

As soon as the accounts have been audited under subsection (3B), the British Waterways Board must send to the Scottish Ministers a copy of the statement of accounts together with a copy of the report made by the Auditor General for Scotland on that statement.

A copy of the statement of accounts and the report referred to in subsection (3C) must be included in the report which is under this Act to be laid by the Scottish Ministers annually before the Scottish Parliament.

Section thirty-nine of the M1Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1888, and the M2Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act 1911 (which relate to the making of returns and the keeping of statistics by railway and canal companies), and, except so far as the Minister may by order made by statutory instrument otherwise provide, so much of any statutory provision as relates to the accounts, statistics and returns to be kept or made by the owners of undertakings which were by the M3Transport Act 1947, transferred to the Commission, or as relates to the audit or publication of any such accounts, shall not apply to any of the Boards.