APPROPRIATION BILL
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EXPLANATORY AND FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM
INTRODUCTION
1. This Explanatory and Financial Memorandum has been prepared by the Minister in charge of the Bill, Mr Mark Durkan, in order to assist the reader of the Bill and to help inform debate on it. It does not form part of the Bill and has not been endorsed by the Assembly.
2. The Memorandum needs to be read in conjunction with the Bill. It is not, and is not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the Bill. So where a clause or part of a clause does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given.
PURPOSE
3. The Bill gives effect to the 2000-2001 Northern Ireland Main Estimates and authorises the issue from the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland of £4,296,588,000 (in addition to the Vote on Account of £3,538,803,000 authorised by the Appropriation (NI) Order 2000). It also authorises temporary borrowing of up to approximately half of this sum £2,148,294,000 to cover any temporary deficiency which might arise in the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland. In addition it repeals a number of spent enactments.
4. The sums to be issued from the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund, and receipts authorised as appropriations in aid, are for the specified services set out in Schedule 1 to the Bill.
BACKGROUND
5. Appropriation Bills are the legislative means by which Assembly approval will be sought for:
(a) voted expenditure by Departments on the services for which they are directly responsible. (eg Roads, Water programmes and assistance to industry);
and
(b) voted grants to Non Departmental Public Bodies sponsored by Departments (eg Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Education and Library Boards, Health and Social Services Boards etc).
This Appropriation Bill will authorise the Department of Finance and Personnel to issue money from the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund for the services detailed in corresponding Estimates volumes and summarised in the schedule to the Bill. Estimates volumes and other relevant documents are published so as to be available when Appropriation Bills are introduced in the Assembly. Separate Appropriation Bills will be taken to cover the Main Estimates (initial voted provision for a financial year) and subsequent Supplementary Estimates which increase or vary what was approved in the Main Estimates.
This Bill covers the Main Estimates for 2000-2001 and needs to be approved by the Assembly and completed before the amounts appropriated to departments in the Vote on Account expire around the end of August or early September. The Main Estimates will bring Departments' legal authority to spend into line with their allocations agreed by the Executive Committee and presented to the Assembly by Mr Mark Durkan on 15 December 1999 and later adjusted to incorporate changes flowing from the Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget of 21 March.
COMMENTARY ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 : Issue of sum out of the Consolidated Fund for the year ending 31st March 2001.
Authorises the issue out of the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland of £4,296,588,000 for 2000-2001.
Clause 2 : Power for Department of Finance and Personnel to borrow
This clause authorises the temporary borrowing by the Department of Finance and Personnel of approximately half the sum covered by Clause 1. This is a normal safeguard against the possibility of a temporary deficiency arising in the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund.
Subsection (2) provides that any amount borrowed should be repaid along with any interest due not later than 31st March 2001.
Clause 3 : Appropriation of grants
This clause appropriates the sums to be issued out of the Consolidated Fund under Clause 1 for the several purposes listed in Schedule 1 and authorises the use of certain receipts as appropriations in aid for 2000-2001.
Clause 4 : Repeal of spent enactments
This Bill removes from the statute book two Appropriation Orders which are no longer operative.
Clause 5 : Short title
This clause sets out the title of the Act.
LEGISLATIVE COMPETENCE
6. The Minister in charge of the Bill, Mr Mark Durkan, has made the following statement as required by section 9 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
"In my view the Appropriation Bill would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly"