Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975

Financial provisions

5General financial duties

(1)The Secretary of State may, by notice given to the Corporation, require the Corporation to perform such duties of a financial nature as are specified in the notice, and it shall be the duty of the Corporation to comply with the notice.

(2)A notice in pursuance of this section shall not be given except with the approval of the Treasury and after consultation with the Corporation.

(3)A notice in pursuance of this section may—

(a)specify different duties in respect of different activities of the Corporation;

(b)relate to a period beginning before the notice is given;

(c)contain such incidental and supplemental provisions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate; and

(d)be varied or revoked by a subsequent notice in pursuance of this section.

(4)The Secretary of State may, with a view to deciding whether to give a notice to the Corporation in pursuance of this section or what the terms of such a notice should be, require the Corporation to furnish him with proposals for expenditure by the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries which are prepared in such a form and by reference to such factors and for such periods as the Secretary of State may specify; and it shall be the duty of the Corporation to comply with the requirement.

6Borrowing powers etc.

(1)Any sum required by the Corporation for the purpose of performing its functions may be borrowed by the Corporation in sterling from the Secretary of State or, with the consent of or in accordance with a general authority given by the Secretary of State, in any currency from a person other than the Secretary of State.

(2)The Secretary of State shall not give consent or an authority in pursuance of the preceding subsection except with the approval of the Treasury.

(3)The aggregate amount outstanding at any time in respect of money borrowed temporarily by the Corporation and relevant subsidiaries shall not exceed such amount as is for the time being specified by the Secretary of State, and the aggregate amount outstanding at any time in respect of the principal of any money borrowed by the Corporation or relevant subsidiaries and the sums of which the repayment is guaranteed by the Corporation or relevant subsidiaries shall not exceed £600 million or such larger amount, not exceeding £900 million, as is for the time being specified by an order made by the Secretary of State.

(4)In calculating any amount outstanding for the purposes of the preceding subsection any money borrowed by the Corporation from a relevant subsidiary or by a relevant subsidiary from the Corporation or another relevant subsidiary shall be disregarded.

7Loans by Secretary of State

(1)The Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, lend to the Corporation any sums which the Corporation has power to borrow from the Secretary of State by virtue of the preceding section.

(2)Any sum lent by the Secretary of State in pursuance of the preceding subsection shall be paid by him into the National Oil Account established by this Act.

(3)Any loan which the Secretary of State makes in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section shall be repaid to him at such times and by such methods, and interest on the loan shall be paid to him at such rates and at such times, as the Secretary of State may with the approval of the Treasury from time to time determine.

(4)The Treasury may issue out of the National Loans Fund to the Secretary of State such sums as are necessary to enable him to make loans in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section ; and any sums received by the Secretary of State in pursuance of the preceding subsection shall be paid into that Fund.

(5)It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State as respects each financial year—

(a)to prepare, in such form as the Treasury may direct, an account of sums issued to him in pursuance of the preceding subsection or received by him in pursuance of subsection (3) of this section in that year and of the disposal of the sums by him ; and

(b)to send the account to the Comptroller and Auditor General not later than the end of the month of November next following that year ;

and the Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on the account and shall lay copies of it and of his report on it before each House of Parliament.

8Guarantees

(1)The Treasury may guarantee, in such manner and on such conditions as they think fit, the repayment of the principal of and the payment of interest on any sums which the Corporation borrows from a person other than the Secretary of State.

(2)Immediately after a 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 a guarantee so given 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.

(3)Any sums required by the Treasury for fulfilling a guarantee under this section shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

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

(5)Any sums received by the Treasury in pursuance of the preceding subsection shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

9Exemption from petroleum revenue tax and stamp duty. 10. Accounts and audit

(1)Petroleum revenue tax shall not be payable by the Corporation or a relevant subsidiary.

(2)Stamp duty shall not be payable on any instrument as to which the Corporation certifies to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue that it was executed—

(a)solely for the purpose of transferring property from a Minister of the Crown to the Corporation; or

(b)solely for the purpose of transferring, in pursuance of a direction given by virtue of section 12(3) of this Act, property to the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries from the British Gas Corporation or any of its subsidiaries,

and shall not be payable on any instrument as to which the British Gas Corporation certifies to the said Commissioners that it was executed solely for the purpose of transferring, in pursuance of such a direction, property to the British Gas Corporation or any of its subsidiaries from the British National Oil Corporation or any of its subsidiaries.

(3)No such instrument as is mentioned in the preceding subsection shall be deemed to be duly stamped unless it is stamped with the duty to which it is liable apart from that subsection or is stamped in accordance with section 12 of the [1891 c. 39.] Stamp Act 1891 with a particular stamp denoting that it is not chargeable with any duty or that it is duly stamped.

10(1)It shall be the duty of the Corporation—

(a)to keep proper accounts and proper records in relation to the accounts ; and

(b)to prepare in respect of each accounting year, in such form as the Secretary of State may specify with the approval of the Treasury, a statement of those accounts showing the state of affairs and, subject to the following subsection, the profit or loss of the Corporation and giving separate information with respect to, and showing as far as may be the financial and operating results of, each of the main activities of the Corporation.

(2)If the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury gives notice to the Corporation requiring it to prepare statements of accounts in accordance with this subsection, it shall be the duty of the Corporation to prepare, in respect of each accounting year during which the notice is in force and in the form specified in the notice, statements of the consolidated accounts of the group consisting of the Corporation and its subsidiaries, or, if the notice so requires, of the group consisting of the Corporation and any specified subsidiary or subsidiaries of the Corporation, showing—

(a)the state of affairs and the profit or loss of the group in question; and

(b)the financial and operating results as far as may be of each of the main activities of the group in question ;

and a notice in pursuance of this subsection may provide that the statement of accounts to be prepared by the Corporation in pursuance of the preceding subsection in respect of any accounting year during which the notice is in force shall not be required to show the Corporation's profit or loss.

(3)If the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury gives notice to the Corporation requiring it to prepare statements of accounts in pursuance of this subsection, it shall be the duty of the Corporation to prepare, in respect of each accounting year while the notice is in force and in the form specified in the notice, statements of accounts showing—

(a)the state of affairs and the profit or loss of such of the following as are specified in the notice, namely—

(i)a group consisting of such of the Corporation's subsidiaries as are so specified ; and

(ii)each of the Corporation's subsidiaries so specified; and

(b)if the notice so requires, the financial and operating results as far as may be of each of the main activities of the group or of each subsidiary in question.

(4)The accounts kept and the statements prepared in pursuance of the preceding provisions of this section shall be audited by auditors appointed annually by the Secretary of State; and a person shall not be qualified to be so appointed unless he is a member of one or more of the following bodies—

• the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales;

• the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland ;

• the Association of Certified Accountants ;

• the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland ;

• any other body of accountants established in the United Kingdom and for the time being recognised for the purposes of section 161(1)(a) of the [1948 c. 38.] Companies Act 1948 by the Secretary of State;

but a Scottish firm may be so appointed if each of the partners is qualified to be so appointed.

(5)As soon as any accounts and statements have been audited in pursuance of the preceding subsection, the auditors shall send to the Secretary of State copies of the statements and any report made by the auditors on the accounts or statements and shall send to the Corporation a copy of any such report; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to lay before each House of Parliament a copy of every document received by him in pursuance of this subsection.