Background and Policy Objectives
3.Budget Acts are the legislative means by which Assembly approval will be sought for departments and certain other public bodies to incur expenditure and use resources as detailed in the corresponding Estimates volume and summarised in the Schedules to the Act. Furthermore, the Budget Acts will enable the Assembly to hold departments accountable for managing and controlling those resources within the limits authorised.
4.The Budget Act will not only authorise the use of resources but contains powers to authorise the issue of sums of cash from the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund to departments and other public bodies and appropriate those sums to services. Budget Acts also set the relevant limits on the accruing resources that may be directed to be used for purposes specified in the Schedules to the Act. Accruing resources are divided into two categories: a) operating accruing resources, which is resource income offset against the gross resource expenditure and b) non-operating accruing resources, which is capital income, mainly relating to the sale of assets, and offset against gross capital spend.
5.Estimates volumes and other relevant documents are published so as to be available when Budget Acts are introduced in the Assembly. Separate Budget Acts will be introduced relating to the Main Estimates (initial voted provision for a financial year) and subsequent Supplementary Estimates which revises that initial provision as a result of the in-year monitoring rounds. The Budget Act relating to the Supplementary Estimates will also provide interim resources and funding (around 45%) for the first few months of the next financial year.
6.The Act authorises the use of resources for both 2007-08 and 2008-09. For 2007-08 a total revised amount of £14,429,839,000 will be authorised and for 2008-09 a Vote on Account of £6,493,908,000 is taken to provide departments with provision for the early months of 2008-09, until the Main Estimates are voted in the summer. The Act revises the limits as set in the Budget Act (Northern Ireland) 2007 on the amount of accruing resources, including both operating and non-operating accruing resources that may be directed to be used for certain purposes for the year ending 31st March 2008. The Act also authorises the issue of cash from the Consolidated Fund in support of services for both 2007-08 and 2008-09. For 2007-08 the Act authorises a total revised amount of £11,851,642,000 which is detailed in the 2007-08 Spring Supplementary Estimates. For 2008-09 a Vote on Account of £5,335,212,000 is taken.
7.The sums to be issued from the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland for the year ending 31st March 2008 are to be appropriated for services, as set out in Schedule 1 to the Act.
8.The amount of resources (including accruing resources) authorised for use for the year ending 31st March 2008 are to be used for the purposes specified in Schedule 2 to the Act.
9.The sums to be issued from the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland for the year ending 31st March 2009 are to be appropriated for services as set out in Schedule 3 to the Act.
10.The amount of resources authorised for use for the year ending 31st March 2009 are to be used for the purposes specified in Schedule 4 to the Act.