Local Government and Housing Act 1989

36 Amendments of existing power to incur discretionary expenditure.E+W+S

(1)Section 137 of the M1Local Government Act 1972 (power of local authorities to incur expenditure for certain purposes not otherwise authorised) shall be amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (8) below and, accordingly, after the coming into force of this section, shall have effect as set out in Schedule 2 to this Act.

(2)In subsection (1), after the words “in the interests of” there shall be inserted “ and will bring direct benefit to ”; after the words “incur any expenditure” there shall be inserted “ (a) ” and at the end there shall be added the words “nor

(b)unless the direct benefit accruing to their area or any part of it or to all or some of the inhabitants of their area will be commensurate with the expenditure to be incurred”.

(3)After subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(1A)In any case where—

(a)by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above, a local authority are prohibited from incurring expenditure for a particular purpose, and

(b)the power or duty of the authority to incur expenditure for that purposeis 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 expenditure to which that power or duty would apply if it were not subject to any limitationor condition.”

(4)Subsections (2A) and (2B) (which relate to the giving of financial assistance to persons carrying on commercial or industrial undertakings) shall cease to have effect and, in subsection (2C), paragraph (a) (which relates to publicity on the promotion of the economic development of the authority’s area) shall also cease to have effect.

(5)In subsection (3) (contributions permitted to charitable and public service funds etc.),—

(a)for the words “as aforesaid” there shall be substituted “ to the following provisions of this section ”;

(b)in paragraph (b) after the words “public service” there shall beinserted “ (whether to the public at large or to any section of it) ”; and

(c)at the end of paragraph (c) there shall be added “ or by such a person or body as is referred to in section 83(3)(c) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 ”.

(6)In subsection (4) (expenditure not to exceed the product of a 2p rate) for the words following “not exceed” there shall be substituted “the amount produced by multiplying—

(a)such sum as is for the time being appropriate to the authority under subsection (4AA) below, by

(b)the relevant population of the authority’s area”;and subsection (8) (which relates to the computation of a 2p rate) shall cease to have effect.

(7)After subsection (4) there shall be inserted the following subsections—

“(4AA)For the purposes of subsection (4)(a) above, except in so far as the Secretary of State by order specifies a different sum in relation to an authority of a particular description,—

(a)the sum appropriate to a county council or the council of a non-metropolitan district is £2.50;

(b)the sum appropriate to a metropolitan district council, a London borough council or the Common Council is £5.00; and

(c)the sum appropriate to a parish or community council is £3.50.

(4AB)For the purposes of subsection (4)(b) above the relevant population of a local authority’s area shall be determined in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State; and a statutory instrument containing such regulations shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of theHouse of Commons.”

(8)In subsection (4B) (amounts deductible in determining expenditure under the section) for paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(a)the amount of any expenditure which forms part of the authority’s gross expenditure for that year under this section and in respect of which any grant has been or is to be paid under any enactment by a Minister of the Crown, within the meaning of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 (whether or not the grant covers the whole of the expenditure)”.

(9)In section 83(3) of the M2Local Government (Scotland)Act 1973 (contributions permitted to charitable and public service funds etc.), at the end of paragraph (c) there shall be added “ or by such a person or body as is referred to in section 137(3)(c) of the Local Government Act 1972 ”.