Section 125 | National Savings ordinary accounts: surplus funds

(1)As soon as practicable after the passing of this Act—

(a)the Director of Savings and the Commissioners must prepare a statement showing the relevant surplus, and

(b)the Commissioners must pay the relevant surplus into the Consolidated Fund.

(2)The relevant surplus is the amount held by the Commissioners by virtue of section 17 of the 1971 Act (including any such amount held in investments), less the aggregate of—

(a)such sums as the Treasury may determine to be equal to those expended by the Director of Savings in connection with ordinary accounts,

(b)such sums as are necessary to defray the expenses incurred by the Commissioners in connection with ordinary accounts, and

(c)such sums as are required to be paid into the Consolidated Fund by virtue of section 20 of the 1971 Act.

(3)The Commissioners—

(a)must pay into the Consolidated Fund the sums determined in accordance with subsection (2)(a), and

(b)may retain the sums determined in accordance with subsection (2)(b).

(4)As soon as practicable after preparing a statement under subsection (1), the Director of Savings and the Commissioners must transmit the statement to the Comptroller and Auditor General who must—

(a)examine, certify and make a report on it, and

(b)lay copies of the statement, together with copies of that report, before Parliament.

(5)The Treasury may by order repeal or otherwise amend any enactment if the repeal or amendment appears to the Treasury to be necessary or expedient in consequence of—

(a)the closure of ordinary accounts and the transfer of their balances to other accounts (see, in particular, regulations 2B to 2BB of the National Savings Bank Regulations 1972 (S.I. 1972/764)), or

(b)this section.

(6)An order under subsection (5) is to be made by statutory instrument.

(7)No order may be made under subsection (5) unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing it has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, the House of Commons.

(8)In this section—

(a)a reference to sums expended or expenses incurred in connection with ordinary accounts includes a reference to sums expended or expenses incurred in connection with the holding of amounts by virtue of section 17 of the 1971 Act (including their holding in investments), and

(b)expressions used in this section and in the 1971 Act have the same meaning in this section as in that Act.

(9)In this section—

“the 1971 Act” means the National Savings Bank Act 1971;

“enactment” includes—

(a)an enactment contained in the 1971 Act, and

(b)subordinate legislation (which has the same meaning as in the Interpretation Act 1978).