Budget Act (Northern Ireland) 2020

Issue of sum out of the Consolidated Fund for the year ending 31 March 2020 and appropriation of that sum

1.—(1) The Department of Finance may issue out of the Consolidated Fund and apply to the service of the year ending 31 March 2020 the sum of £17,519,166,000.

(2) That sum is appropriated for the purposes specified in Schedule 1.

(3) The authorisation and appropriations in this section supersede those made by section 4 of the Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2019 and section 1 of the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2019; and, in relation to any amount specified in column 2 of Schedule 1, any increase or decrease by virtue of this section in the amount appropriated is given in brackets after the amount.

Use of resources (other than accruing resources) in the year ending 31 March 2020

2.—(1) For the purposes of section 6(1) of the 2001 Act, this section authorises the use of resources in the year ending 31 March 2020 by the persons mentioned in subsection (3) to the amount of £21,022,321,000.

(2) In that year, resources may be used by a person mentioned in that subsection for the purposes specified in relation to that person in column 1 of Schedule 2 up to the amounts specified in the corresponding entries in column 2 of that Schedule.

(3) The persons are—

(a) the Northern Ireland departments;

(b) the Food Standards Agency;

(c) the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission;

(d) the Northern Ireland Audit Office;

(e) the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation;

(f) the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman;

(g) the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland.

(4) The authorisations in this section supersede those made by section 6 of the Northern Ireland Budget (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2019 and section 3 of the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2019; and, in relation to any amount specified in column 2 of Schedule 2, any increase or decrease by virtue of this section in the amount authorised is given in brackets after the amount.

(5) In this section “resources” does not include accruing resources within the meaning of section 8(1) of the 2001 Act.

Revised limits on use of certain accruing resources in the year ending 31 March 2020

3.—(1) For the purposes of section 8(1) of the 2001 Act, this section sets the relevant limits on the accruing resources that may be directed to be used for certain purposes in the year ending 31 March 2020 in addition to resources authorised by this Act to be used for those purposes in that year.

(2) In that year accruing resources not exceeding the amount specified in column 3 of Schedule 2 may be directed to be used for the purposes specified in the corresponding entries in column 1 of that Schedule.

(3) The limits set by this section supersede those set by section 4 of the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2019; and, in relation to any amount specified in column 3 of Schedule 2, any increase or decrease by virtue of this section in the amount of the limit is given in brackets after the amount.

Issue of sum out of the Consolidated Fund for the year ending 31 March 2021 and appropriation of that sum

4.—(1) The Department of Finance may issue out of the Consolidated Fund and apply to the service of the year ending 31 March 2021 the sum of £7,962,895,000.

(2) That sum is appropriated for the purposes specified in Schedule 3.

Power of the Department of Finance to borrow

5.—(1) The Department of Finance may borrow on the credit of the sum specified in section 4 any sum or sums not exceeding in total £3,981,448,000.

(2) Any money so borrowed must be repaid, with any interest due on it, out of the Consolidated Fund not later than 31 March 2021.

Use of resources (other than accruing resources) in the year ending 31 March 2021

6.—(1) For the purposes of section 6(1) of the 2001 Act, this section authorises the use of resources in the year ending 31 March 2021 by the persons mentioned in subsection (3) to the amount of £9,054,440,000.

(2) In that year, resources may be used by a person mentioned in that subsection for the purposes specified in relation to that person in column 1 of Schedule 4 up to the amounts specified in the corresponding entries in column 2 of that Schedule.

(3) The persons are—

(a) the Northern Ireland departments;

(b) the Food Standards Agency;

(c) the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission;

(d) the Northern Ireland Audit Office;

(e) the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation;

(f) the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman;

(g) the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland.

(4) In this section “resources” does not include accruing resources within the meaning of section 8(1) of the 2001 Act.

Interpretation

7.  In this Act, “the 2001 Act” means the Government Resources and AccountsAct (Northern Ireland) 2001.

Short title

8.  This Act may be cited as the Budget Act (Northern Ireland) 2020.