Commentary on provisions of Act
Section 1 – Issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund for year ending 31 March 2018 and appropriation of that sum
- Section 1 authorises the issue out of the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland the sum of £16,114,708,000 for the purposes set out in Schedule 1. This authorisation supersedes those amounts previously authorised by the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2017. This is not new money, as it is an authorisation for issue from the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland as would normally be done by the Assembly. The sums referred to are those already appropriated by Parliament, together with revenue generated locally within Northern Ireland under the Assembly’s devolved powers.
Section 2 – Use of resources (other than accruing resources) in the year ending 31 March 2018
- Section 2 authorises the use of resources amounting to £18,040,802,000 in the year ending 31 March 2018 by the bodies listed in Section 2(2) for the purposes specified in column 1 of Schedule 2; the amount authorised is set out in column 2 of that Schedule. This authorisation supersedes those amounts previously authorised by the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2017. As with Section 1 above this an authorisation to use resources which would normally be provided by the Northern Ireland Assembly in relation to money already authorised by Parliament, together with revenue generated locally within Northern Ireland under the Assembly’s devolved powers.
- There is a distinction between the cash sum authorised for issue in Section 1, and the amount of resources authorised for use in Section 3. The cash sum in Section 1 includes cash used to finance capital investment, and also takes into account movement in working capital and payments based on provisions created in previous years. These do not constitute resource consumption. The resources authorised in Section 2 exclude those items, but include non-cash items, mainly the depreciation of assets and creation of new provisions.
Section 3 – Limits on use of certain accruing resources in the year ending 31 March 2018
- Section 3 sets limits on the accruing resources, including both operating and non-operating accruing resources, which may be used for the purposes specified in column 1 of Schedule 2 in the year ending 31 March 2018. These limits are set out in column 3 of that Schedule.
Section 4 – Issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund for year ending 31 March 2019 and appropriation of that sum
- Section 4 authorises the issue out of the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland the sum of £7,343,531,000 for the purposes set out in Schedule 3. This authorisation is a vote on account to allow public services to continue to be delivered into the early months of the new financial year. This is a normal process for any supply and appropriation Act and does not imply the setting of a Budget for the 2018-19 year. Its purpose is to provide access to cash and resources to ensure that services can continue to be delivered pending the consideration of a Budget Act for the full 2018-19 financial year, which should be done by the Northern Ireland Assembly based on a Budget position agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive.
Section 5 – Power of the Department of Finance to borrow
- Section 5 authorises the temporary borrowing by the Northern Ireland Department of Finance of approximately half the sum covered by Section 4. This is to safeguard against the possibility of a temporary deficiency arising in the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland and any such borrowing is to be repaid by 31 March 2019.
Section 6 – Use of resources (other than accruing resources) in the year ending 31 March 2019
- Section 5 authorises the use of resources amounting to £8,191,344,000 in the year ending 31 March 2019 by the bodies listed in Section 6(2) for the purposes specified in column 1 of Schedule 4; the amount authorised is set out in column 2 of that Schedule. As with Section 4, this authorisation is a vote on account to allow public services to continue to be delivered into the early months of the new financial year. This is a normal process for any Supply and Appropriation Act and does not imply the setting of a Budget for the 2018-19 year. Its purpose is to provide access to cash and resources to ensure that services can continue to be delivered pending the consideration of a Budget Act for the full 2018-19 financial year which should be done by the Northern Ireland Assembly based on a Budget position agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive.
Section 7 – Act to take effect as if it were a Budget Act of the Assembly
- Section 7 provides for this Act to have the same effect as if it were an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the year ending 31 March 2018.
Schedule 1 – Sums granted for the year ending 31 March 2018
- Sets out the purpose and sums of money granted to Northern Ireland departments and other bodies under this Act (under Section 1).
Schedule 2 – Amounts of resources authorised for use and amounts of accruing resources which may be used in year ending 31 March 2018
- Sets out the amount of resources authorised for use by Departments and other bodies (see Section 2), and the limits to use of accruing resources (Section 3).
Schedule 3 – Sums granted for the year ending 31 March 2019
- Sets out the purpose and sums of money granted to Northern Ireland departments and other bodies under this Act (under Section 4).
Schedule 4 – Amounts of resources authorised for use in the year ending 31 March 2019
- Sets out the amount of resources authorised for use by Departments and other bodies (see Section 6),
