CAPITAL RECEIPTS (Hansard, 11 November 1980)

§ Mr. Fox
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Richard Crawshaw)
With this we may take Lords amendments Nos. 73 and 74.

§ Mr. Fox
This amendment is a necessary consequence of the inclusion within part VIII of the Bill of capital expenditure by passenger transport executives. Because the capital expenditure of the PTE will itself be prescribed expenditure, it is necessary to ensure that any capital grants repaid by a PTE to a local authority do not score as capital receipts. This amendment brings about that objective.
On amendment No. 73, the Government made clear in the original consultation document on capital controls, issued last autumn, that they proposed to include within the scope of the new system capital expenditure by PTEs. The PTE can undertake virtually any type of public transport capital expenditure within its area. In circumstances where the capital expenditure of metropolitan counties is to be controlled under part VIII of the Bill, it would obviously have been undesirable for PTE expenditure to remain outside the new system.
The clause will mean that all PTE capital expenditure, irrespective of the method of financing, will count against the capital allocation of the appropriate county council. All the definitions, including that of prescribed expenditure, which apply to local authorities for part VIII will also apply to PTEs.
348 Amendment No. 74—new clause K—ensures that any proposal by a passenger transport executive to acquire a leasehold interest in land or property will be a proposal requiring the approval of that executive's passenger transport authority.

§ Mr. Fox
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, we may take Lords amendment No. 72.

§ Mr. Fox
As hon. Members are aware, regulations will be made under paragraph 4 of schedule 9 to provide that certain expenditure, for example, on law and order services and on some types of leasing, will not be subject to control under part VIII of the Bill. The amendment is necessary to make certain that parallel regulations can be made under clause 66(5)(d) to provide that assets acquired by means of any decontrolled expenditure shall not be treated as generating capital receipts on disposal. This is logical and does not represent any change in Government policy.
The Government tabled amendment No. 72 to ensure that all payments that constitute prescribed expenditure under part VIII of the Bill will be subject to the existing statutory procedures for the audit of local authority accounts.