In any case where, by virtue of any enactment, the Secretary of State has a power or duty to make to a local authority any annual or other periodic payments by way of contribution, grant or subsidy towards expenditure incurred or to be incurred by the local authority, the Secretary of State—
The amount required to reduce or extinguish a debt as mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above shall be such as may be determined by the Treasury and where, by virtue of that paragraph, only part of a commuted payment is paid to the Treasury, the balance shall be paid to the local authority concerned.
Subsection (1) above applies whether the annual or other periodic payments began, or would otherwise begin, before, on or after the passing of this Act and applies notwithstanding anything in any enactment requiring the paymentsto be made over a period of twenty years or any other specified period.
A single or other payment falling to be made by virtue of subsection (1) above is in this section referred to as a "commuted payment" and the calculation of the amount of any commuted payment shall be such as appears to the Secretary of State to be appropriate.
In any case where the amount of any annual or other periodic payment such as is mentioned in subsection (1) above is, at the passing of this Act, calculated by reference to a rate of interest which varies from time to time, the Secretary of State may substitute a fixed rate of interest.
In this section "local authority", as respects England and Wales, means any of the following—
and, as respects Scotland, means a a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994or a joint board or joint committee within the meaning of section 235(1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
If, after a commuted payment has been made to a local authority or to the Treasury, it appears to the Secretary of State that the payment was smaller or greater than it should have been (whether by virtue of a miscalculation, the occurrence of any event, the failure to comply with any condition or otherwise) the Secretary of State may, as the case may require,—
Without prejudice to the operation of the preceding provisions of this section, with respect to—
Without prejudice to the generality of section 230 of the Local Government Act 1972 or section 235(1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (local authorities' duty to make reports and returns to the Secretary of State), every local authority and the Inner London Education Authority shall furnish to the Secretary of State such information as he may by notice in writing reasonably require for the purposes of this section and, if the notice so specifies, any such information shall be certified and audited in such manner and supplied not later than such dateand in such form as may be so specified.
Nothing in this section applies in relation to any payments to which, under Part IV of Schedule 15 to the Housing Act 1985 (superseded contributions etc.: town development subsidy), provision already exists for the commutation of payments.