Policy background
Ordinarily the passage of a Budget Act to authorise the issue of sums from the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland would be taken through the Northern Ireland Assembly following the agreement of a budget by the Northern Ireland Executive and its approval by the Assembly. However, there have been no functioning devolved institutions in Northern Ireland since 3 February 2022, when the then First Minister of Northern Ireland resigned, which also resulted in the deputy First Minister ceasing to hold office. The Executive failed to form after the 5 May 2022 Assembly elections, and the subsequent failures to elect a Speaker means that the Assembly cannot conduct any business, so it falls to Parliament to legislate to provide authority for departmental expenditure in Northern Ireland.
	In the continued absence of the Northern Ireland Executive, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland set out draft budget allocations for the 2023-24 financial year (the Budget) in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 27 April 2023. It is necessary to introduce legislation to put the budget allocations on a legal footing and authorise the issue of sums to, and use of resources by, Northern Ireland departments for the full financial year ending 31 March 2024. It will provide certainty for the Northern Ireland departments in order to protect public finances and maintain the delivery of Northern Ireland’s public services. This Budget will require devolved spending decisions to be made by senior officers of Northern Ireland departments in respect of which provision is made in the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022.
	The Northern Ireland Budget Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 8 February 2023, included a Vote on Account (VoA) which has allowed Northern Ireland departments and other bodies to continue to deliver services into the current financial year 2023-24, up to a limit of approximately 65% of the previous year’s (2022-23) budget. The VoA ensures that there has been technical access to cash and provides legal authority for the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) to use this money to deliver public services pending the passing of a further Northern Ireland Budget Act for the full 2023-24 year.
	This Act is a necessary step to ensure that public services can continue to be provided in Northern Ireland.
	No new money will be allocated as a result of the Act. Instead it will appropriate sums provided to the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland through the UK Estimates process, together with revenue generated within Northern Ireland under the Assembly’s devolved powers.