The County Councils (Library Authority Expenses) (Wales) Order 1989
Section 70 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”) provides that, subject to certain exceptions, the expenses of a county council are its general expenses. One of the exceptions concerns the expenses of a Welsh county council in exercising its functions as library authority in its library area, where that area consists of part only of its administrative area (section 70(2)(c)). In those circumstances such expenses are a Welsh county council’s special expenses and relate only to that council’s library area. Insofar as special expenses are incurred or defrayed on or after 1st April 1990, a county council must secure that such of those expenses as are to be met by precepts are borne only by those charging authorities (district councils in Wales) to whose area the expenses concerned relate (section 69(4)).