§ 31. Mr. JAMES DUNCANasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he did not, in prescribing the form of account of the Racecourse Betting Control Board for 1932, ensure that depreciation was shown in the items on the assets side of the balance sheet to which depreciation was appropriate; and if he will do so in future years?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir John Gilmour)The form of account for the year 1932 follows in general the form prescribed for previous years. As regards the matter of depreciation, the present form is drawn on all fours with the practice usually adopted by other statutory undertakings, such as railways and electricity companies, and provides for a depreciation reserve fund. This procedure appears to me quite appropriate in the present instance, and has the advantage of showing the total amount provided under the head of depreciation without obscuring the record of the original cost of the individual items. The depreciation reserve fund appears on the liability side of the Board's balance sheet and the Board intend to transfer annually out of the surplus available from operations such amount as, it is estimated, will provide for the depreciation and amortisation of the assets as a whole.