Finance Act 1998

155 Code for fiscal stability. U.K.

(1) It shall be the duty of the Treasury to prepare and lay before Parliament a code for the application of the key principles to the formulation and implementation of—

(a) fiscal policy, and

(b) policy for the management of the National Debt.

(2) The key principles are transparency, stability, responsibility, fairness and efficiency.

(3) The code prepared under this section must set out, in particular—

(a) the Treasury’s understanding of what each of the key principles involves in relation to fiscal policy and policy for the management of the National Debt;

(b) the provision appearing to the Treasury to be necessary for the purposes of so much of section 156 below as refers to the code; and

(c) the methods and principles of accounting to be applied in the preparation of accounts, forecasts and other documents used for the purposes of the formulation and implementation of the policies mentioned in subsection (1) above.

(4) Where any code has been laid before Parliament under subsection (1) above, the Treasury may from time to time modify that code; but, if they do so, they shall lay the modified code before Parliament.

(5) A code (including a modified code) that has been laid before Parliament under this section shall not come into force until it has been approved by a resolution of the House of Commons.

(6) It shall be the duty of the Treasury to publish, in such manner as they think fit, any code which has been laid before Parliament and approved by the House of Commons under this section.

(7) The first code to be laid before Parliament under this section shall be so laid before 31st December 1998.